Fire breaks out at Meirun Shopping Street in Ise City, Mie Prefecture, Japan

The Meirun Shopping Street in Ise City, Mie Prefecture, Japan, close to the outer palace of Ise Jingu Shrine, was shocked by the Zhuron disaster this afternoon (31st). The video footage that went viral on the Internet showed that the fire was quite alarming, and a large amount of thick smoke was billowing into the sky.

According to comprehensive Japanese media reports, at 3:15 pm today (2:15 pm Taiwan time), a fire broke out in the Meirun Shopping Street in Ise City. The police and firefighting units received multiple reports claiming that stores in the shopping street were on fire and a large amount of black smoke was rising. The Ise City Firefighting Headquarters immediately dispatched a large number of manpower to put out the fire. As of 4:50 pm (3:50 pm Taiwan time), the fire was still not extinguished, and flames continued to appear in multiple buildings at the scene.

Meirun Shopping Street is located in Ise City, Iwabuchi 1-chome, on the west side of Kintetsu Ujiyamada Station and Kintetsu Yamada Line, and is only about 400 meters west of the Ise Jingu Outer Palace. The shopping street is a local time-honored business district with a long history. The narrow alleys are densely packed with many traditional restaurants and various stores. As a result, the fire quickly spread to many surrounding buildings. The cause of the fire is currently unknown, and whether anyone was injured or trapped at the scene remains to be further clarified.

Ise Jingu Shrine is the highest-status and most representative Shinto shrine in Japan. It is regarded as the "spiritual home" of the Japanese people. It has a history of about 2,000 years and consists of a total of 125 shrines including the inner palace, outer palace and other branches. The main worshiping god is the sun goddess "Amaterasu Omikami", who is the ancestral god of the Japanese royal family and the chief clan god of the Japanese.