What is Shinto architecture?
Shinto architecture is the architecture of Japanese Shinto shrines . With a few exceptions like Ise Grand Shrine and Izumo Taisha Shinto shrines before Buddhism were mostly temporary structures erected to a particular purpose.
What is shrine architecture in Japan?
Overview of Japanese Shrine Architecture. Japanese shrine architecture refers to the architecture associated with shrine, or Shinto shrine. It is also called shaden (shrine pavillions) architecture.
How old is the Shinto shrine in Japan?
They have been doing this for around 1,300 years. Some records indicate the Shinto shrine is up to 2,000-years old. The process of rebuilding the wooden structure every couple decades helped to preserve the original architect’s design against the otherwise eroding effects of time.
What are Shinto shrines made of?
Shinto architecture. Even the honden or sanctuary, the part which houses the kami and which is the centerpiece of a shrine, can be missing. However, since its grounds are sacred, they usually are surrounded by a fence made of stone or wood called tamagaki, while access is made possible by an approach called sandō.
When were the Shinto shrines built?
Early shrines, which first appeared from around the 6th century BCE, often copied the architecture of thatched rice storehouses, but from the Nara period in the 8th century BCE onwards, temple design was influenced by Chinese, and especially Buddhist, architecture - upturned gables, and a prodigious use of bright red ...
How old is the Shinto shrine?
Ise Grand ShrineGeographic coordinates34°27′18″N 136°43′33″EArchitectureDate established4 BCEGlossary of Shinto8 more rows
When was the first shrine made?
According to tradition, the Inner Shrine—officially named Kōtai Jingū—was first constructed in 4 bce; most likely, however, the earliest structure dates from sometime later, possibly as early as the 3rd century ce.
How was Shinto shrine created?
Shrine Complexes By medieval times Shinto architecture developed a shrine complex surrounded by a fence entered through a sacred arch or torii. The complex included a main hall for worshipers (haiden), a smaller kami hall (honden) and a ritual landscape.
Why are Shinto shrines red?
It is believed that the red torii in front of a shrine wards off evil spirits, danger, and bad luck. Apart from having a spiritual function, the red color has a preservative function. Red paint is usually made using mercury, which has been used as a preservative for wood since ancient times.
Does Shinto have a God?
"Shinto gods" are called kami. They are sacred spirits which take the form of things and concepts important to life, such as wind, rain, mountains, trees, rivers and fertility. Humans become kami after they die and are revered by their families as ancestral kami.
What is a Shinto shrine called?
Shinto shrines, called “jinja” in Japanese, haven't only played an important role throughout Japan's history but also are an inherent part of daily life even today.
How many Shinto shrines are in Japan?
There are around 100,000 Shinto shrines and 80,000 Buddhism temples throughout Japan where locals visit and pray. They are also very popular sightseeing spots that attract many tourists from all over the world.
Who owns shrines in Japan?
The Association of Shinto Shrines (神社本庁, Jinja Honchō) is a religious administrative organisation that oversees about 80,000 Shinto shrines in Japan.
Can you make your own Shinto shrine?
To make a building "Shinto shrine", you need to be a 宮司. It's not something you can become via application. Call it Shinto shrine-like building, not Shinto shrine.
What is inside a Shinto shrine?
Shinto shrines (神社, jinja) are places of worship and the dwellings of the kami, the Shinto "gods". Sacred objects of worship that represent the kami are stored in the innermost chamber of the shrine where they cannot usually be seen by anybody.
What are 3 features of Shinto shrines?
The following is a diagram illustrating the most important elements of a Shinto shrine:Torii – Shinto gate.Stone stairs.Sandō – the approach to the shrine.Chōzuya or temizuya – fountain to cleanse one's hands and face.Tōrō – decorative stone lanterns.Kagura-den – building dedicated to Noh or the sacred kagura dance.More items...
What is a Shinto shrine called?
Shinto shrines, called “jinja” in Japanese, haven't only played an important role throughout Japan's history but also are an inherent part of daily life even today.
Who runs a Shinto shrine?
The Association of Shinto Shrines (神社本庁, Jinja Honchō) is a religious administrative organisation that oversees about 80,000 Shinto shrines in Japan. These shrines take the Ise Grand Shrine as the foundation of their belief. It is the largest Shrine Shinto organization in existence.
Can you make your own Shinto shrine?
To make a building "Shinto shrine", you need to be a 宮司. It's not something you can become via application. Call it Shinto shrine-like building, not Shinto shrine.
What is the purpose of Shinto shrine?
A Shinto Shrine is the main physical place of worship for followers of the Japanese Shinto religion. The name of a shrine is typically followed by the suffix jinja. Its main role is to be the home to one or sometimes more kami spirits, worshipped in the Shinto religion.
What is a Shinto shrine?
Shinto shrines are structures built to house kami and to create a link between kami and human beings. Shrines are sacred places of worship where visitors can offer prayers, offerings, and dances to the kami. The design of Shinto shrines varies, but they can be identified by their entrance gate and a sanctuary that houses the kami.
How to identify Shinto shrines?
The design of Shinto shrines varies, but they can be identified by their entrance gate and a sanctuary that houses the kami . All visitors are welcome to visit Shinto shrines, participate in worship, and leave prayers and offerings for the kami. The most important feature of any given shrine is the shintai or “body of the kami," an object where ...
Why do people worship Shinto shrines?
Worshippers visit Shinto shrines not to praise the shintai, but to worship the kami. The shintai and the shrine create a link between kami and human beings, making kami more accessible to people. There are more than 80,000 shrines in Japan, and almost every community has at least one shrine.
What is the most important feature of a shrine?
The most important feature of any given shrine is the shintai or “body of the kami," an object where the kami is said to reside. Shintai can be manmade, like jewelry or swords, but can also be naturally occurring, like waterfalls and mountains.
What is the name of the amulets inscribed with the name of the kami of the shrine?
In addition, the shamusho is where visitors can purchase (though the preferred term is receive, as the objects are sacred rather than commercial) ofunda and omukuji, which are amulets inscribed with the name of the kami of the shrine intended to bring protection to its keepers.
How to enter a Kami shrine?
Visitors enter the shrine through the torii, or the main gate, and walk down the sando, which is the pathway that leads from the entrance to the shrine itself. The grounds may have multiple buildings or one building with many rooms. Usually, there is a honden—a sanctuary where the kami is enshrined in the shintai—, a haiden—place of worship—, and a heiden—a place of offerings. If the kami is enshrined within a natural element, such as a mountain, for example, the honden might be completely absent.
How to use the dipper in Shinto?
Follow the sando to the water basin. Use the dipper to first wash your left hand, followed by your right, and your mouth.
What is the path to Shinto shrine?
Pathway (sandō) Main article: Sandō . The sandō is the road approaching either a Shinto shrine or a Buddhist temple. Its point of origin is usually straddled in the first case by a Shinto torii, in the second by a Buddhist sanmon, gates which mark the beginning of the shrine's or temple territory.
What was the name of the temple that was built inside a shrine?
Before the forced separation of Shinto and Buddhism ( Shinbutsu bunri ), it was not uncommon for a Buddhist temple to be built inside or next to a shrine or to the contrary for a shrine to include Buddhist subtemples ( Shinbutsu shūgō ). If a shrine was also a Buddhist temple, it was called a jingu-ji.
What is the main hall of the Kami?
Honden – main hall, enshrining the kami. On the roof of the haiden and honden are visible chigi (forked roof finials) and katsuogi (short horizontal logs), both common shrine ornamentations.
What is the name of the hall of worship in Shinto?
Main article: Haiden (Shinto) The haiden is the hall of worship or oratory of the shrine. It is generally placed in front of the shrine's main sanctuary ( honden) and often built on a larger scale than the latter. The haiden is often connected to the honden by a heiden, or hall of offerings.
Why are shrines not hondens?
It is believed shrines of this type are reminiscent of what shrines were like in prehistorical times. The first shrines had no honden because the shintai, or object of worship, was the mountain on which they stood. An extant example is Nara 's Ōmiwa Shrine, which still has no honden. An area near the haiden (hall of worship), sacred and taboo, replaces it for worship. Another prominent example of this style is Futarasan Shrine near Nikkō, whose shintai is Mount Nantai. For details, see Birth and evolution of Shinto shrines above.
What is the name of the gate that surrounds the shrine?
However, since its grounds are sacred, they usually are surrounded by a fence made of stone or wood called tamagaki, while access is made possible by an approach called sandō. The entrances themselves are straddled by gates called torii , which are therefore the simplest way to identify a Shinto shrine.
What are some examples of Shinto architecture?
Some examples of Shinto architecture. Shinto architecture is the architecture of Japanese Shinto shrines . With a few exceptions like Ise Grand Shrine and Izumo Taisha Shinto shrines before Buddhism were mostly temporary structures erected to a particular purpose.
Why did Japan build shrines?
Japanese people instead built shrines for specific events or to celebrate a religious event on a fixed date.
What is a jinja shrine?
History. A jinja is a shrine that is home to a kami, or Japanese god-spirit. At the beginning, when most structures were only temporary, they were created to appeal to the gods and to bring luck to villages. When Buddhism arrived, the Japanese people discovered the concept of permanent temples.
How many styles of architecture are there in the Honden?
The honden also serves as influence for the architectural standards of the whole site. There are approximately fifteen diverse styles, the most frequent of which are called nagare-zukuri and kasuga-zukuri, and the oldest of which are called taisha-zukuri and shinmei-zukuri. A gate called a torii ⛩️ marks the entrance of the shrine.
What is the purpose of a shrine?
The main goal of a shrine is to allow people to worship a deity; almost every shrine possesses a locked building called a honden, where the kami lives, as represented by an object called a shintai, which can be a statue, a sacred stone, or a mirror. This place is strictly reserved for the deity and is protected by a fence called a tamagaki.
What is the name of the gate at the entrance of the shrine?
A gate called a torii ⛩️ marks the entrance of the shrine. It is several meters high and easily recognizable, and it is often made of wood and painted red and black. At the bottom of this door sit two statues of guardian dogs or lions called komainu. In addition, stone lanterns called sando sit along the main path.
What is the name of the temple where the hands and mouth are washed?
As soon as the visitor crosses the threshold of the shrine, he or she performs a purification ritual that involves washing the hands and mouth at a stone fountain, which is sheltered under a pavilion called a temizuya or chozuya. As a general rule, two buildings precede the sacred room for the kami:
When was the Izumo Oyashiro Shrine built?
Therefore, it is said that the present shrine building built in 1744 constitutes its basic form.
What is the most sacred shrine in Shinto?
Ise Grand Shrine is Shinto's most sacred shrines which enshrines the most venerated deity Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess of Japan.
What is the name of the building that houses Goshintai?
A Honden may house Goshintai, which is an object of worship believed to contain the spirit of a deity (e. g. , a mirror). Haiden: a pavillion for worship and prayer. The building which visitors typically see when they visit a shrine is the Haiden.
Where is the Gion Zukuri style?
The Gion-zukuri style can be seen only at Yasaka-jinja Shrine in Gion , Kyoto, and it is considered to be the style of shrine architecture that most resembles that of Buddhist temple architecture due to the single roof that covers the separate honden (main sanctury) and rei-do hall (current haiden (worship hall)).
What is Shinmei Zukuri?
Shinmei-zukuri (神明造) Overview of Shinmei-zukuri. The shinmei-zukuri style is a style of shrine buildings in Japan. It is said that the shinmei-zukuri style, represented by the Ise-jingu Shrine building, is one of the oldest styles of shrine architecture, together with the taisha-zukuri style, represented by the Izumo-taisha shrine building, ...
What is the Otori style?
Otori-zukuri style is one of the architectural styles of shrines in Japan. Otori-zukuri style, which is typified by Otori Taisha Shrine, is a style that developed from taisha-zukuri style, which is exemplified by Izumo-taisha Shrine. It is a simple linear style that looks as if a roof is placed on a cube.
Where did the Gongen Zukuri style originate?
It is said that the gongen-zukuri style started with Hiyoshi Tosho-gu Shrine (built in 1634) in Sakamoto, Otsu City. It is said that this style originated in Kaizan-do Hall adopted in Buddist temples, where the Shi-do hall (a hall dedicated to the souls of ancestors), is connected to the Rai-do hall (a worship hall) with the Ainoma (connection room). However, it is also said that the hall is based on the hachiman-zukuri style.
How long has the Shinto shrine been rebuilt?
They have been doing this for around 1,300 years. Some records indicate the Shinto shrine is up to 2,000-years old. The process of rebuilding the wooden structure every couple decades helped to preserve the original architect’s design ...
When was Shikinen Sengu performed?
The renewal of the buildings and of the treasures has been conducted in the same traditional way ever since the first Shikinen Sengu had been performed 1300 years ago .
Why do people take part in a parade at shrines?
Locals take part in a parade to transport the prepared wood along with white stones— two per person—which they place in sacred spots around the shrine. In addition to reinvigorating spiritual and community bonds, the tradition keeps Japanese artisan skills alive.
What is Junko Edahiro's concept?
Its underlying concept — that repeated rebuilding renders sanctuaries eternal — is unique in the world.
Overview
- Structurally, a Shinto shrinetypically comprises several buildings. The honden (本殿, meaning: “main hall”) is where a shrine’s patron kami is/are enshrined. The honden may be absent in cases where a shrine stands on or near a sacred mountain, tree, or other object which can be worshipped directly or in cases where a shrine possesses either an altar-like structure, called a h…
Birth and Evolution
- Early origins
Ancestors are kami to be worshipped. Yayoi-period village councils sought the advice of ancestors and other kami, and developed instruments, yorishiro (依り代), to evoke them. Yoshishiro means “approach substitute” and were conceived to attract the kami to allow t… - First temporary shrines
True shrines arose with the beginning of agriculture, when the need arose to attract kamito ensure good harvests. These were, however, just temporary structures built for a particular purpose, a tradition of which traces can be found in some rituals. Hints of the first shrines can still be foun…
Arrival and Influence of Buddhism
- The arrival of Buddhism in Japan in around the sixth century introduced the concept of a permanent shrine. A great number of Buddhist temples were built next to existing shrines in mixed complexes called jingū-ji (神宮寺, literally: “shrine temple”) to help priesthood deal with local kami, making those shrines permanent. Some time in their evolution, ...
Shintai
- The defining features of a shrine are the kami it enshrines and the shintai (or go-shintai if the honorific prefix go- is used) that houses it. While the name literally means “body of a kami”, shintai are physical objects worshiped at or near Shinto shrines because a kami is believed to reside in them. In spite of what their name may suggest, shintai are not themselves part of ka…
Shake Families
- The Shake (社家) is the name for families and the former social class that dominated Shinto shrines through hereditary positions within a shrine. The social class was abolished in 1871, but many shake families still continue hereditary succession until present day and some were appointed hereditary nobility (Kazoku) after the Meiji Restoration. Some of the most well-known …
Famous Shrines and Shrine Networks
- Those worshiped at a shrine are generally Shinto kami, but sometimes they can be Buddhist or Taoist deities, as well as others not generally considered to belong to Shinto. Some shrines were established to worship living people or figures from myths and legends. A famous example are the Tōshō-gū shrines erected to enshrine Tokugawa Ieyasu, or the many shrines dedicated t…
Structure
- The following is a list and diagram illustrating the most important parts of a Shinto shrine: 1. Torii– Shinto gate 2. Stone stairs 3. Sandō– the approach to the shrine 4. Chōzuya or temizuya– place of purification to cleanse one’s hands and mouth 5. Tōrō – decorative stone lanterns 6. Kagura-den – building dedicated to Noh or the sacred kaguradance 7. Shamusho– the shrine’s a…
Architectural Styles
- Main article: Shinto architecture Shrine buildings can have many different basic layouts, usually named either after a famous shrine’s honden (e.g. hiyoshi-zukuri, named after Hiyoshi Taisha), or a structural characteristic (e.g. irimoya-zukuri, after the hip-and gable roof it adopts. The suffix -zukuriin this case means “structure”.) The honden’s roof is always gabled, and some styles also …
Interpreting Shrine Names
- Shrine nomenclature has changed considerably since the Meiji period. Until then, the vast majority of shrines were small and had no permanent priest. With very few exceptions, they were just a part of a temple-shrine complex controlled by Buddhist clergy. They usually enshrined a local tutelary kami, so they were called with the name of the kami followed by terms like gongen; ubus…
Shrines with Structures Designated as National Treasures
- Main article: List of National Treasures of Japan (shrines) Shrines that are part of a World Heritage Site are marked with a dagger. 1. Tōhoku region 1.1. Ōsaki Hachiman Shrine (Sendai, Miyagi) 2. Kantō region 2.1. Nikkō Tōshō-gū(Nikkō, Tochigi) 2.2. Rinnō-ji(Nikkō, Tochigi) 3. Chūbu region 3.1. Nishina Shinmei Shrine (Ōmachi, Nagano) 4. Kansai region 4.1. Onjō-ji (Ōtsu, Shiga) …
Overview
Other styles
The origin of shrines
Common features
Shinto architecture is the architecture of Japanese Shinto shrines.
With a few exceptions like Ise Grand Shrine and Izumo Taisha Shinto shrines before Buddhism were mostly temporary structures erected to a particular purpose. Buddhism brought to Japan the idea of permanent shrines and the presence of verandas, stone lanterns, and elaborate gates are some which are …
Most common shrine styles
Follows a list of other styles (in alphabetical order). Many are rare, some unique. Most deal with the structure of a single building but others, for example the Ishi-no-ma-zukuri style, define instead the relationship between member structures. In that case, the same building can fall under two separate classifications. For example, the honden and haiden at Ōsaki Hachimangū are single-storied, irimo…
See also
The practice of marking sacred areas began in Japan as early as the Yayoi period (from about 500 BC to 300 AD) originating from primal Shinto tenets. Features in the landscape such as rocks, waterfalls, islands, and especially mountains, were places believed to be capable of attracting kami, and subsequently were worshiped as yorishiro. Originally, sacred places may have been simply marked with a surrounding fence and an entrance gate or torii. Later, temporary buildings …
Notes
The following is a diagram illustrating the most important elements of a Shinto shrine:
1. Torii – Shinto gate
2. Stone stairs
3. Sandō – the approach to the shrine