Kyoto Split: Divine Intervention
Breaking up is hard to do, so visitors to ancient Kyoto seek divine intervention to lose that not-so-special someone.
At the 800-year-old Yasui Konpiragu Shrine, some 40,000 visitors a year -- mainly women -- crawl into a wish tunnel, pray and make offerings in "enkiri" rites aimed at cutting the knot.
Soundbite: Hajime Torii, Priest, Yasui Konpiragu Shrine
Dan Sloan reports.



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Breaking up is hard to do, so Japanese in ancient capital Kyoto, are seeking divine intervention to lose their not-so-special someone.

At the 800-year-old Yasui Konpiragu Shrine, some 40,000 visitors a year –mainly women – crawl into a wish tunnel, pray and then make offerings in “enkiri” rites aimed at cutting the knot.

Not on the list of cultural sites for spouses during the ADB’s recent 40th anniversary meeting there, Yasui is less famous than other Kyoto landmarks but no less important, say pilgrims.

Hajime Torii, priest at the shrine run by his family for generations, set special prayers for 50 dollars that offer consolation to visitors with serious domestic issues.

First visitor writes their prayer and then begins to enter the hole in the rock to rid themselves of the trouble, they enter with the prayer and then return to the same hole, finally placing it on a rock where god can find it.

Yasui, which also offers match-making services, caters mainly to those looking to kiss off someone or rid themselves of a problem.

Torii says most pilgrims from around Japan wanna find solo.

"Some of visitors just want to break up as soon as possible, while occasionally it may be parents looking to pray for a child in a bad relationship. On the contrary, some pilgrims come here because they can’t find a marriage partner and want one as soon as possible. "

Japan's divorce rate has more than doubled since 1960, recently exceeding 260,000 according to Government’s statistics. A growing number of retiree couples are finding life together intolerable, sending longer-term marriage break-up rates spiking higher.

Yasui Shrine, which dates back to Japan's medieval Kamakura Era, is not an old world when it comes to courting patrons, with services and history now are available online as well.

Dan Sloan, Reuters Kyoto.

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