Jishu Shrine

Another exciting part of the Kiyomizudera Temple is the shrine built on the same grounds.

Jishu Shrine

Jishu is a shrine to Ookuninushi, the Japanese god of love and good matches (think Japanese Cupid). 

This is the entrance to the shrine itself; note the tell-tale Torii gate through which one must step to enter.

This is the shrine itself, in front of which are two rocks, placed six meters apart. It is said that if one can walk from one stone to the other with their eyes closed, they will find true love. A friend or significant other is permitted to help, which is especially good since the shrine is both small and very popular, so there are a lot of people to walk around. 

Jishu sells lots of love talismans; I bought a small red one with the Pisces fish on it to "improve the luck in love of one's zodiac sign". I'm a Pisces in Western mythology, and a rat in Eastern. Most Japanese zodiac memorabilia uses the Eastern animals, and frankly, I don't care for being a rat, so I was excited to see a Pisces charm and figured I'd get that one.