Futamiura Beach in Ise.

On the rough blue sea, a shimenawa rope connects two rocks of different sizes, known as the Meoto Iwa (Married Couple Rocks) on the famous Futamiura Beach in Ise. Ise Jingu is a spiritual home for the Japanese people. According to tradition, before visiting Ise Jingu, people should first visit Futamiura Beach and perform the purification ritual of "Hama Sangu" at Okitama Shrine, before visiting Ise Jingu. The 9-meter-high male rock and 4-meter-high female rock, located 660 meters from the shore, serve as the natural torii (gate) of Okitama Shrine's sacred object, the Okitama Shinto Stone. The shrine is home to many frog statues, as frogs are the messengers of Sarutahiko, one of the shrine's deities, and the shrine's mascot. In Japanese, the word for frog, "kaeru," is pronounced the same as the word for "return home," so the shrine is also associated with traffic safety and safe returns.