Stairway to the ruined Mountain God Shinto Shrine in Northern Taiwan

It’s a busy week for me with a couple of deadlines fast approaching and a couple more projects and assignments moving forward quickly. As such, this will be a quick post today from the ruined Mountain God Shinto shrine in Jinguashi, Taiwan. It dates back to the Japanese colonial era in Taiwan’s history and was originally constructed in 1933 after the Japan Mining Company took over the running of a local gold mine. It originally contained a main hall, prayer hall and pavilion for worshipers to wash their hands. There were also two walkways along the stairs, at either side of which were 3 torii (gate), 5 flag platforms and 1 bronze bull. During the Japanese era large-scale religious ceremonies and rituals were held here every year. At some point during the war years, the shrine was mostly destoyed and today all that is left are 2 torii (gate), a few stone lanterns and the shrine’s original foundation, beams and pillars. The town of Jinguashi today exists mostly as a tourist site a relatively short distance from Taipei. The main attraction is the gold mining museum and some tradition Japanese-style architecture.

Provided that I can get enough work done over the next day or so, I’ll have a longer post for you mid-week.

I hope everyone’s been trying to think of some good answers and guesses for the theme competition. Here’s today’s photo. Sunday will be a day off, so remember to check back Monday for the next photo. Good luck.

Taken at a cosplay event earlier in the year, this is Rei Ayanami, a fictional character from Neon Genesis Evangelion, a popular Japanese manga/anime series.