became one of the three kami of waka. Yamato Diplomacy and the Silk Road Sumiyoshi-taisha is a shrine with connections to the ancient Yamato royalty's diplomacy and sailing, protecting the Imperial embassies to China. As the head priests, the Tsumori clan also boarded these embassy ships. The embassies departed from Suminoe no Tsu, a port on the Hosoe-gawa (also known as Hosoi-gawa. Known as Suminoe no Hosoe in ancient times), a river located to the south of the shrine. Suminoe no Tsu is the oldest international port in Japan, and was opened by Emperor Nintoku. It was the Silk Road's entrance into Japan. Cultural references Although Sumiyoshi taisha is currently completely landlocked, until the Edo period, the shrine riding grounds (currently Sumiyoshi Park) faced the sea and were considered the representative of the beautiful "hakushaseishou" (white sand and green pines) landscape. So much so that this type of scenery in designs and art is known as the Sumiyoshi design. In Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji, the shrine is used as an important stage in some chapters concerning the Akashi Lady. In the folktale "Issun-bōshi", an old couple who had no children prayed at Sumiyoshi taisha. Their prayers were granted. When their child went on a voyage, he departed at Sumiyoshi harbor, sailed down Hosoe-gawa to Osaka Bay, sailed up the Yodo River, and entered Kyoto. Notable architecture Construction style The honden is built in the Sumiyoshi-zukuri style and has been designated a national treasure on the grounds that it is the oldest example of this style of architecture. There is an a forked finial, on the roof of the main shrine, as well as 5 square , billets placed horizontally along the length of the roof. There are no corridors around the sanctuary. It is surrounded by a plank , which is further surrounded by an . The pillars are round, and stand on stone foundations. The planks between the pillars are horizontal. The area seen from front is the nave, and beyond is the inner shrine and second room. Sumiyoshi Torii One of the stone torii at the shrine, just south of the honden, is known as the . It is unusual in that the middle bar does not extend outside of the vertical posts, and all pieces have square edges. This type of torii is called Sumiyoshi torii after the shrine. See also List of Shinto shrines