Shinto 神道
View allAll Photos Tagged shinto
ⓒRebecca Bugge, All Rights Reserved
Do not use without permission.
Wedding procession at the Meiji shrine in Tokyo. The two men are kannushi and the women behind them are mikos. Then, under a red parasol, come the bride and groom. The woman adjusting the bride's dress is not one of the guests but a part of the service personnel, there to see that everything runs smoothly (hence why she is dressed much more demurely than the rest of the people).
The white hood of the bride is called a watabōshi (綿帽子), while she is dressed in a shiromuku (白無垢), a white over-kimono, denoting purity. The man is wearing is wearing the typical male dress for traditional formal occasions: a jacket called a haori (羽織) and hakama (袴), trousers you can see in circumstances like these, but also on some performers of Japanese martial arts such as kendo and iaidō.
Kannushi (神主 - also known as shinshoku, 神職) is someone who performs holy rites at and look after a Shinto shrine - kind of a Shinto shrine priest. To become one you have to study at an approved university or pass an exam - their position is usually inherited by their children (and although men are most common, women can become kannushi too). The head-gear they are wearing is an eboshi (烏帽子) and their white robes are knon as jōe (浄衣 - lit. clean clothes). They clothes actually hold no real symbolic significance, but reflects old court clothes. The stick, or baton, both men are holding is a shaku (笏), originally a part of a the formal dress of a nobleman.
A miko (巫女) is a young woman working at a Shinto shrine. The role has ancient traditions and in the beginning she was most likely a shaman but in modern Shinto her role is more institutionalized and includes doing ritual dances, participating in rituals, like weddings, but also more mundane tasks as selling talismans and souvenirs. Their traditional clothes include a red hakama (or sometimes a skirt), a white haori (kimono jacket) and red and/or white hair ornaments.
The Honden (本殿, main shrine) of Shintoism is always built to be hidden by Haiden (拝殿, prayer hall) as the former is considered as the private space for a god while the latter is for the public reception. Honden of Nishina Shinmeiguu in the left is attached with Chuumon (中門, inner gate) in the right.
These two wooden structures are registered as a National Treasure (国宝), the highest category of the heritage conservation scheme at the national level.
The shrine is built in the Shinmei-zukuri (神明造) style that is identical to the Ise Shrine. The architectural style preserves the autochthonous architectural tradition of Japan before receiving the influence of Buddhist architecture from China and Korea.
Old conifer trees surrounding the shrine complex also look impressive and mystic.
Shinto Torii Gate Sunrise, Japan
A torii (Japanese: 鳥居, [to.ɾi.i]) is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred, and a spot where kami are welcomed and thought to travel through.
Created with Midjourney engine.
PP work in Adobe PS Elements 2024 Raw filters.
PP work in Luminar Neo filters.
Prompt: Shinto sunrise over the sea of Japan with red Torii gate, deep turqouise sea cranes flying over the gate, calming, serene scene
--ar 16:9
--v 5.2
Thank you all for the visit, kind remarks and invites, they are very much appreciated! 💝 I may reply to only a few comments due to my restricted time spent at the computer.
All art works on this website are fully protected by Canadian and international copyright laws, all rights reserved. The images may not be copied, reproduced, manipulated or used in any way, without written permission from the artist. Link to copyright registration:
www.canada.ca Intellectual property and copyright.
Entered in AIA Group: Asian Dreams Challenge - Nov. / December 2024
www.flickr.com/groups/14685405@N24/discuss/72157721921977...
集落の外れにある、白山八幡神社とその桜。裏山越しの日光で桜が輝いていました。神社のカーテンは雪対策みたい。
@Shirakawago, Takayama city, Gifu pref. （岐阜県高山市 白川郷）
Standing on Itsukushima Shrine one is surrounded by Shinto and Buddhist Shrines dating back centuries. This view shows the proximity of Gomado Hall, part of the Daiganji Temple.
Tourists wading in Hiroshima Bay to get close to Miyajima's Great Torii.
The Great Torii on Itsukushima (Miyajima) Island near Hiroshima. Part of the Itsukushima Shinto Shrine UNESCO World Heritage Site.
From Wikipedia: Itsukushima Shrine (厳島神社, Itsukushima-jinja) is a Shinto shrine on the island of Itsukushima (popularly known as Miyajima), best known for its "floating" torii. It is in the city of Hatsukaichi, in Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan, accessible from the mainland by ferry at Miyajimaguchi Station. The shrine complex is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Japanese government has designated several buildings and possessions as National Treasures.
The Itsukushima shrine is one of Japan's most popular tourist attractions. It is most famous for its dramatic gate, or torii on the outskirts of the shrine, the sacred peaks of Mount Misen, extensive forests, and its ocean view. The shrine complex itself consists of two main buildings: the Honsha shrine and the Sessha Marodo-jinja, as well as 17 other different buildings and structures that help to distinguish it.
Shinto wedding, Tokyo – Japan
Shinto wedding ceremony at Meiji Jingu, a Shinto shrine in Tokyo – Japan
A Shinto wedding ceremony involving priests, family and guests, featuring processions in kimonos.
Kumano Nachi Taisha, a Shinto shrine near the hot springs of Katsuura, in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan.
A Shinto monk, possibly a Yamabushi by the look of his conditioning, undergoes a purification ceremony in a mountain waterfall
Asakusa Shrine
Taito City, Tokyo, Japan
04-08-2024
Processed: 04/12/26
You really get a sense of history when in Japan. In the spring of 2024 I visited the oldest Buddhist Temple in Tokyo, Sensō-ji, completed in 645. Next door is the Asakusa Shrine, built a few (hundred) years later in 1649. Japan's two main religions are Buddhism and Shintoism. This area in front of the Shrine shows a temizuya water basin with dragon spigots. The large lion-dog statue is a Komainu, a protective guardian who warns off evil spirits. Backing the statue is a cherry tree in full bloom.
Many old temples and shrines in Japan look like they could have been built recently. Whenever these ancient structures are damaged in any way, they are meticulously restored to look exactly like they did when first built.
I visited Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka over 12 days during cherry blossom time in 2024. Four days in each city was perfect. I got around by train (including the famous Shinkansen bullet train). Japan knows trains. In Kyoto I visited the train museum. Come to think of it, I'll be riding a fair amount of trains in a couple of days when I visit the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Antwerp has one of the most beautiful train stations in Europe and it will be right down the street from my hotel there.
Shinto shrines are places of worship and the dwellings of the kami, the Shinto gods. This is the worship hall (haiden) of Kami Ichinomiya Oawa Shrine, dedicated to Ogetsuhime, the god of grains, in particular Awa millet (foxtail millet, Setaria italica). Ichinomiya means 'first shrine' and is a Japanese historical term referring to the Shinto shrines with the highest shrine rank in a province or prefecture. Kamiyama, Shikoku Island, Japan.
Beneath the West Pier at Whitby.
I was rather surprised to find that right at the end of the West Pier was an open trapdoor and ladder in the wooden floor giving access to the concrete base of the pier itself. There in the shadows below, beyond the barrier blocking further progress back towards the town, were the dark outlines of several fishermen- each standing alone at his watch like so many herons intent on their catch. Above, near the top of the ladder and right at the end of the pier two sociable sea-anglers trimmed and fussed over their lines ceaselessly and the beams of their head-torches pierced the cracks between floorboards sending flickering, shifting shafts of light down into the space below. It was all a bit reminiscent of 'Close Encounters Of The Third Kind'
From the wellspring within an evergreen primeval forest, Nachi Waterfall is Japan's tallest waterfall, with an uninterrupted drop of 133 meters.
The waterfall is appreciated for its natural beauty, but also worshipped as the dwelling of Shinto deity.
In Shinto, kami are spirits or deities that inhabit natural phenomena. Nachi Falls itself is worshipped as a kami, specifically called Hirō Gongen, a manifestation of the waterfall deity.
In Shinto, water is purifying, and Nachi Falls is one of the most powerful symbols of this concept. It’s used in rituals of misogi (purification), where practitioners may stand under smaller cascades to cleanse body and spirit. The sheer force of Nachi’s plunge is a dramatic, awe-inspiring representation of nature's power to purify.
The Meiji shrine in Tokyo is a popular spot for Shinto weddings - so popular in fact you can take a seat in the courtyard for an hour and see four or five wedding parties marching past :-)
The difference between a temple and a shrine is like this: Temples are for Buddah, Shrines are Shinto. Please don't aske me to clairify further as I don't understand much about either. One other thing, ALL shrines have this stone gate you have to walk through to get to the shrnie. Bowing is proper before entering.