Ise is a collective designation for a group of Shinto shrines in the city of Ise, Mie Prefecture, in central Japan. The Ise complex includes the Naiku (Inner) Shrine, enshrining the Sun Goddess Amateratsu Omikami (divine ancestor of the emperors ), and the Geku (Outer) Shrine dedicated to a local god. "Ise" is used to refer to all of them collectively and to the land on which they are situated. From ancient times the area has been a sacred place; it is the seat of the ancestral deities of the impe rial house, a favorite pilgrimage destination and, in modern times under State Shinto, the shrine of the entire Japanese nation.