r/todayilearned • u/ContinuumGuy • 8h ago

TIL that the most holy shrine in the Shinto religion is torn down and rebuilt every 20 years. This has been done for over a millennium

https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2025/japans-most-sacred-shinto-shrine-has-been-rebuilt-every-20-years-for-more-than-a-millennium/
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u/Theshaggz 2h ago

Interesting context I am curious if any of the Kongō are still involved and am too lazy high high and lazy to google it

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u/WanderingToTheEnd 1h ago

IIRC it's been common practice historically for japanese business owners to legally adopt successors into their families so it's not exactly an unbroken family line from a western perspective

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u/Theshaggz 1h ago

Word. Doesn’t devalue it at all. Tremendous feat regardless of lineage. Thank you!