Konnichiwa Minna~san,
Below is my final essay/project for my Shinto class. I have been working on this all semester throughout my travels of Japan. Hopefully by reading it you will learn something new and interesting!
“A Survey of Japan’s Torii and Much More”
Great Torii at Miyajima Island taken 10/2009
Torii. One can see these all over Japan. The Great Torii down in Miyajima frequents the covers of brochures and guidebooks waiting to guide travelers and tourists throughout the magical and mysterious land of Japan. Or at least by the Westerner’s view point this might be the case when looking at such a beautiful picture of an interesting structure that is the torii. One may wonder what purpose these structures have in Japanese culture. I know I did. Before coming to Japan I knew a little about these torii but not much. Previously I had been exposed to the images of the Great Torii majestically standing in the water while basking in the setting sun at Miyajima. Luckily I was able to go and see it for myself- it turned out to be even more beautiful than the pictures. However when I arrived in Japan I was curious as to how many torii and shrines I saw that were not necessarily as well known as the one at Miyajima Island. As I kept seeing these torii around local neighborhoods they started to capture my attention more and more. As a result of this curiosity I decided to take pictures of all the torii that I have seen in my journey throughout Japan. There are so many more to see, but seeing as I am only here for one semester I was only able to capture 45 separate torii in a variety of places in the Kansai region as well as in Tokyo. Front torii of Meiji Jingu- notice the chrysanthemums
I took pictures of 45 single torii that I have chosen to investigate in this analysis. Fushimi Inari totally threw me for a loop since there were so many torii that it was impossible to capture all torii on film. Two main styles of torii were surveyed – the stone torii and the vermillion torii with the vermillion torii out numbering the stone torii by 6. The biggest torii were found at Meiji Jingu, Yasukuni Jinja and the Great Torii of Miyajima Island/Itsukushima Jinja. Each was very different. Meiji Jingu’s torii were made of great wood decorated with three golden chrysanthemums symbolizing the Emperor Meiji. And all torii at Yasukuni were metallic, suggesting a cold and sullen atmosphere. Some general observations of the pictures I have taken are: torii were found in parks, cities, on Buddhist temple grounds, in water, in parking lots, on mountains, on streets and in graveyards. Many have lanterns by them, especially if they are a main torii gate or ichi no torii to a major shrine such as Meiji Jingu, Kasuga Taisha, and Hiyoshi Taisha. Some torii are part of fences surrounding shrines. This seemed more frequent in the local shrines and many torii were already inside fences and others stood alone. Itsukushima Jinja was the only torii to stand on six legs- mainly for support in the water.
Torii come in all shapes and sizes. One look at my pictures attests to the validity of this statement. There are humongous ones, small ones, medium sized ones and even incomplete ones. The name of torii ( 鳥居) can easily be confused with tori (鳥)which means bird. When first learning about torii I immediately associated the gateways with birds. There are two typical styles: shinmei which is where the beams are simple and straight and the myoujin style where the uppermost beam resembles the wingspan of a bird, sweeping up and down gracefully.
Was this intentional when the first Shinto shrine torii were built? According to a Nanzan University article titled Shinto Symbols the torii originally “was a gate set into this [a sacred] fence” (Shinto Symbols, 30) and this fence was called a kamigaki.
Torii symbolize a gateway into a sacred place. It is safe to associate the torii with jinjas and Shinto and even with most of Japan. According to Edward S. Morse author of Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings a torii is “a portal, or structure of stone or wood, erected in front of a Shin-to temple” (Morse 355) . Even though Morse uses the wrong terminology (shrine preferred over the use of ‘temple’) he is not the only one to suggest that the torii serve as portals. Thomas Kasulis suggests that a torii “reminds visitors that these natural wonders can be portals into something more than objects for sightseeing” (Kasulis 2004). The torii therefore serves to label and draw barriers between sacred and mundane, designating that there is in fact an “in” and an “out”.
Certain behaviors are associated with “in” and “out” or in Japanese terms uchi and soto. These two terms play important roles in the functioning of Japanese society. There exists an intense consciousness among the Japanese to which groups they belong and do not belong. Could the torii be emphasizing such barriers? Although rooted at a basic level, one cannot ignore the fact that Shinto or Kami no Michi ( 神様の道) or The Way of the Gods seeps into Japanese society. I once asked my host mother about Shinto. It took her a while to understand what I meant and then she called it by kami no michi. She told me that she and her family do not follow or necessarily believe in Shinto at all. I was interested to hear this from her seeing as I could clearly see values of Shinto being practiced throughout her daily life – namely the constant cleaning and making things pure. She constantly reminds me to wash my hands all the time even though I have done nothing to dirty them. Going back to crossing barriers, I am expected to wash my hands and gargle when I first return home. This shows a concern for keeping the dirt and soil from the outside from coming in and contaminating the house. She keeps a very tidy house. It might be too much to look into her actions as deeply rooted in the Shinto value of purity, however it would be foolish to overlook the possibility.
Yasukuni Jinja’s torii were the only ones that were metallic in appearance. They were huge and almost everywhere within the grounds of the Jinja. Yasukuni’s torii had no shimenawa or shide hanging from them. The shrine itself is plopped right in the middle of an urban center in Tokyo- as is Meiji Jingu. When one enters the shrine there is a healthy mix of nature and concrete things. For some reason I have a bias allowing me to only notice the cold within Yasukuni.
Shinmei style of torii within the grounds of Yasukuni Jinja
One passes through many overbearing torii when walking through Yasukuni Jinja. Their appearance was cold and not particularly welcoming making one feel weary and uncomfortable as if stepping on the grounds of a land that was trying to make a powerful statement. Yasukuni Jinja definitely made an impact on my memory and I cannot free the images from my mind. Yasukuni’s entrance ways marked by mammoth torii revealed a ‘holy’ consciousness about the shrine. Apparently, as one goes deeper into a shrine one passes through more and more torii correlating somewhat with the levels of holiness of specific places within the shrine.
Once entering the shrine from the streets of Tokyo I was surprised to find a flea market. Knowing a bit of the history and controversy enshrouding Yasukuni this confused me. Weren’t the people supposed to be doing something along the lines of worshipping the dead Japanese soldiers? Instead they were past the main gate torii and having a market on ‘sacred’ ground. How could this be? Maybe the torii weren’t such barriers and enforcers of behavior after all. Then I remembered what we discussed in class- Shinto has no concrete code of conduct, no specific shrine rules and doctrine. And why couldn’t this behavior be considered sacred as well?
I did not think torii could get any bigger than what I saw at Yasukuni. Fortunately I was lucky enough to go to both Yasukuni Jinja and Meiji Jingu in one day. I was astonished and surprised at how much bigger the torii were at Meiji. Beautiful dark wood standing tall with nothing but nature around fit my original idea of what a Shinto shrine looked like. These torii just oozed “otherworldliness”. They were in the middle of a forest and long walks were in between sightings of them. These long walks are also a part of the cleansing that one should go through as one passes through There was no need to have a great number of such torii- their image automatically enforced a quiet and calm atmosphere unlike Yasukuni’s uncomforting and overbearing area of worship.
Another example from my homestay experience has been a comment made by my host mother about stepping on the part where the sliding door slides or hozo as a Japanese friend told me. She said it was very rude to do so and that one should carefully step over- going clearly from one room to the next. Of course this helps to keep the hozo clean and from quickly wearing down. The deliberate action of entering instead of carelessly stepping into a room is what I believe to be a very significant observation of Japanese culture. In Japanese society I feel that there is much emphasis on fulfilling roles at certain places and at certain points in one’s life. Just by consciously and carefully stepping over a barrier suggests the possibility of roles changing depending on where one exists. It is dangerous to assume that all things and people in Japan truly believe there is no middle ground, however suggesting that one is to uphold societal norms in order to survive in such a society. These purposeful actions allow the Japanese to ‘save face’ for the sake of themselves and their family.
Could it be possible that the torii is a direct symbol of Japanese culture? The torii is a symbol of Shinto which we have seen to be rooted in the Japanese way of life. When walking through a torii, one is supposed to be cleansed and purified. So the torii act as purification tools for the shrines. When entering a house one is supposed to be clean and pure. Many things in Japanese culture praise the kirei or clean and pretty parts of society. Things that are straight, properly placed and clean are seen very much as a sign of correctness. Very rarely would one find something that is out of place beautiful in Japanese society.
Torii and shrines are found all over Japan. What does this say about Shinto and torii? This might imply that no matter where you go in your daily life throughout Japan, one can always visit a shrine without having to make it a huge deal or make a complete production out of it. Torii are the symbols of something that is available everywhere in Japan: sacred land. The torii make it easy for someone to find a place where they can visit for multiple purposes. Torii as the barrier between sacred and mundane starts to blur- I guess it depends on what people decide is sacred to them in their life. Why can’t just life itself be sacred? Thank you Shinto for blurring the lines.
My journey in Japan has been an amazing one. I have had the opportunity to see so much during my stay. I plan to see much more of Japan’s sights in the future. This project has helped to push me out the door to explore Japan and take advantage of being in a country that is very rich in preserving its own culture. Searching for torii has not been hard, however it has helped not only produce a class project but has served me in helping me growing as a person and not be afraid to go out and discover new things. Classes can only do so much for one’s knowledge, but the real learning comes from having the courage to venture outside the box and into the real world. Thank you, Shinto class and Professor Kenney for encouraging the exploration of lands unknown! There is much work to come! Surveying some of Japan’s torii has really helped for this tori to stretch her wings and learn how to fly.
Works Cited
Hibi, Sadao. Japanese Detail: Architecture. Chronicle Books, San Francisco. 1989.
Kasulis, Thomas. Shinto: The Way Home. 2004
Morse, Edward S. Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings. Charles E. Tuttle Co. Inc. Japan. 1972.
Nanzan University. Shinto Symbols. http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/jjrs/pdf/CRJ-187.PDF
VVV torii of a local shrine near Kansai Gaidai's seminar houses
VVV torii of a local shrine near Kansai Gaidai's seminar houses
Torii within the local shrine by the Seminar Houses >
Torii leading into Yasukuni JInja from the street>
VVV Torii on the grounds of Yasukuni, although set off from the main shrine.
^^^A Meiji Jingu torii- a friend and I under
>>> by Fushimi Inari Jinja
<<<Torii within Fushimi Inari JInja
^^^Torii outside of Fushimi Inari just outside the grounds of the shrine
<<<;within one of the long tunnel ways of torii up Fushimi Inari Jinja
VVV Torii tunnel way of Fushimi Inari mountain
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