You enter the Tsugizakura-Oji Shrine through a stone gate and then follow a staircase. Gigantic cedars tower into the sky on both sides. Once at the top there is a small pavilion between the 800 year old trees. The branches of the sacred cedars all point south, towards the Nachisan Sanctuary, the destination of your pilgrimage.
Below the shrine there is a small shop right on the street where you can get tea and buy a few souvenirs. I spent an hour there until I could go to my guest house and got a spontaneous lesson on how to fold a crane from an older woman. The perfect end to a pleasant day of hiking.