Hiroshima
Bay, The Island of
Miyajima, Japan
The
O-Torii of Itsukushima
All Shinto
shrines have a torii (gateway) it is a symbolic boundary between
the sacred space of the shrine and ordinary space. Of all the
torii's there can be none more imposing than the 'O-Torii to the
Itsukushima Shrine on the island of Miyajima in Hiroshima Bay.
The O-Torii (grand gate) is made of camphor wood and rests on
the mud flats, when the tide is in it appears to float on the
inland sea.
'The present
O-Torii construction is based on the Ryobu-torii style, which
is a wooden Shinto gate design marked by four supporting pillars.
Its roof is thatched with Japanese cypress bark, and the entire
body coated with vermilion lacquer. It stands in the sea about
160 meters from the Shitasaki (wooden floor that protrudes out
to sea) of the Main Shrine. The four-pillar torii style is said
to have been adopted when the torii was rebuilt in 1547. The current
torii, which is the eighth, was erected in 1875. The first torii
was built at the end of the Heian period.1
It is believed
that the O-Torii is there to welcome spirits as they come across
Hiroshima Bay to the Itsukushima Shinto Shrine.
Itsukushima
Shinto Shrine
The island
of Miyajima has from ancient times been worshipped as the island
of the goddess Itsukushima, goddess of the sea. 'The shrine was
an attempt to build the mythical Rygu-jo (Dragon Palace).2 The
shrine is built on posts in the sea and has to keep being rebuilt
and maintained. It looks the same today as it did 800 years ago
in the Heian Period (794-1185). Since ancient times the land has
been deemed 'Pure Land'. No dogs are allowed, no cultivation is
allowed and no one is allowed to die or be buried on the island.
The Shrine
has been designated a National Treasure and Important Cultural
Properties. In 1996 UNESCO World Cultural Heritage registered
the Itsukushima Shrine as a symbol of Japanese aesthetics.
1.
From O-Torii by Tamaki
Okazaki
2. The
Incredible Shrine standing in the Sea
3. Photo courtesy
of Paolo
Marazzi
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