Many Shinto shrines lie on heights. One goes up and up and up to worship. The steps lead straight into the sky and are always steep. It is work to reach such a shrine. The faithful must arrive puffing, gasping, senses reeling. This is as it should be. One arrives as though new born, helpless, vulnerable. One's panting sounds in the ears because a shrine is very quiet, quieter than a church.
— Donald Richie, The Inland Sea