The Kata Shrine

賀多神社 (三重県鳥羽市)
The Kata Shrine (Toba City, Mie Prefecture)

ゴジラを鎮める神楽が舞われたのが、神亀元年(724年)創建の賀多神社。劇中と変わらない石段を登り境内に立つと、あの神楽の響きが聞こえてくるようだ。

Kata Shrine, founded in 724, is where the Kagura dance to appease Godzilla was performed. When you climb the stone steps that are the same as in the play and stand in the precincts, it seems that you can hear the sound of that kagura.

Jinki (Jinki, Shinki) was a Japanese era name after Yōrō and before Tenpyo. This period spanned the years from February 724 through August 729. The reigning emperor was Shomu-tenno.

幅広の石段は二つの鳥居をくぐって緩やかに境内に伸びている。その境内に近い部分で、この神楽のファーストカットは撮影されている。2011年3月に本書スタッフが訪れた 際は、土地の老人が「ゴジラの撮影、あった、あった。高堂國典さん、見ましたわ」と語ってくれた。なお本多猪四郎監督のデビュー作『青 い真珠」の龍神を鎮める神楽も賀多神社で撮影されている。舞手の面と衣装も同じ。音楽は違う。

The wide stone steps extend slowly through the two torii gates. The first cut of this Kagura is shot in the area near the precincts. When the book staff visited in March 2011, the old man in the land said, “The filming of Godzilla was there.” The kagura, which calms the dragon god of Director Ishiro Honda’s debut work “Blue Pearl,” is also shot at Kata Shrine. The aspect of the dance and costumes are the same. The music is different.

A torii is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the profane to the sacred. The presence of a torii at the entrance is usually the simplest way to identify Shinto shrines, and a small torii icon represents them on Japanese road maps. (Source: 鳥居)

Source: 初代ゴジラ研究読本 (洋泉社, p 46)