In the Ancient Shinto, special, prominent sites (landmarks) such as the sea, river, mountain, forest, tree or rock were treated as the himorogi or iwakura (the place where a quieted god dwells) and were thought to be the shiniki (literally the sacred area, or Shinto shrine precincts), the place where a kami dwells, or the shintai.
古神道における神籬・磐座としての海・川・山・森や木・岩など、場の様相が変わり目立つ場所（ランドマーク）が、神域とされ神が宿る場所、神体と考えられた。