Shinto 神道
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The inari fox, shinto kami of fertility, rice, tea and sake, of agriculture and industry, of general prosperity and worldly success. Fushimi inari taisha Kyoto Japan
ⓒRebecca Bugge, All Rights Reserved
Do not use without permission.
This is Shiba Tōshō-gū (芝東照宮 - a tōshō-gū is a Shinto shrine dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu. At one time there were as many as around 500 of these shrines around Japan, but they lost in popularity after the Meiji restoration and the fall of the shogunate. Today there are around 130 left). This shrine was first founded in 1617 and moved to its current location in 1641. It was destroyed by bombings in 1945 and the current structure dates to 1969.
This is the inner hall of Kashima Jingu Shrine. It is located in the area that's captured in the aerial photo (the previous image). The inner hall is situated in the innermost of the 150,000 square meter shrine site. Even the path from the main hall is 300 meters long.
In the shrine, I saw several large and small halls, ceremonies, Shinto priests walking in a procession, hundreds of worshippers, forests, steams coming out of trees and thatched roofs, spray of water dropping as it had snowed on the previous day, natural sunlight, and colourful ghosting flares through my lens.
鹿島神宮(鹿嶋市)
ⓒ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.
I was a shrine maiden in the New Year. I enjoyed it very much.
A great new shrine this year is the Mishima Shrine in WQNC SIM.
It's a very photogenic sim, so come and have a look!
avater:*GUARAN-DOU* CHIBIT
Location:
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bohemian%20Rhapsody/140/16...
Sachiko Tokifuji (Tengu)
Taken at Sunny's studio. (pose: Spider.)
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunny%20Photo%20Studio/128...
Tengu (Japanese: 天狗, lit. "Heavenly Dog" or "Heavenly Sentinel") are a type of legendary creature found in Japanese folk religion. They are considered a type of yōkai (supernatural beings) or Shinto kami (gods). The tengu were originally thought to take the forms of birds of prey and monkey deity, they are traditionally depicted with human, monkey and avian characteristics. Sarutahiko Ōkami is considered to be the original model of Konoha-Tengu (a long-nosed supernatural creature with red face), which today is widely considered the tengu's defining characteristic in the popular imagination. He is the Shinto monkey deity who sheds light on heaven and earth, some experts theorize that Sarutahiko was a sun god worshiped in Ise region prior to the popularization of Amaterasu.
Buddhism long held that the tengu were disruptive demons and harbingers of war. Their image gradually softened, however, into one of protective and even manifestations of buddhist deities, if still dangerous, spirits of the mountains and forests. Tengu are associated with the ascetic practice of Shugendō, and they are usually depicted in the garb of its followers, the yamabushi.
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.
This day I had a few hours break from my business.
Atago Shinto Shrine is on the small hill and the views from it are fantastic.
I introduce some photos.
この日、仕事の合間に数時間をとって愛宕神社に行きました。
愛宕神社は小さな丘にあって、そこからの眺めはすばらしいものです。
写真を何枚か紹介します。
Location : www.ipc.tohoku-gakuin.ac.jp/nken/labo2016/location_pc.htm...
© All rights reserved. Use without permission is illegal. Please contact me if you wish to use/purchase this photo.
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.
Izumo Taisha is one of Japan’s oldest and most revered Shinto shrines, deeply connected to the country’s ancient mythology. Walking through its sacred grounds feels like stepping back in time.
Shinto ritual purification
Shinto priests at a temizuya at Fushimi Inari-taisha Shinto Shrine to Inari, the god of rice, Kyoto, Japan. The temizuya consists of a water basin to perform "misogi," a ritual that involves rinsing the hands and mouth with water, symbolizing the purification of the body and mind before visiting the deity.
21/04/16 www.allenfotowild.com
The Sanja Matsuri is a Shinto festival which ran from 19-21 May in Asakusa neighbourhood of Tokyo. Portable shrines, called mikoshi are paraded through the streets. These are heavy and require many people to carry them. It is a wild, chaotic, and festive atmosphere!
Located in the South of Tokyo Fushimi Inari is famous for its Torii. There are thousands of them there, and it's possible to have a walk of 2 hours walking under them.
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.
Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto, Japan
The touristy bit...
Fushimi Inari Shrine (伏見稲荷大社, Fushimi Inari Taisha) is an important Shinto shrine in southern Kyoto. It is famous for the thousands of vermilion torii gates, which straddle a network of trails behind it's main buildings. The trails lead into the wooded forest of the sacred Mount Inari, which stands at 233 meters and belongs to the shrine grounds.
Fushimi Inari is the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. Foxes are thought to be Inari's messengers, resulting in many fox statues across the shrine grounds. Fushimi Inari Shrine has ancient origins, predating the capital's move to Kyoto in 794.
While the primary reason most foreign visitors come to Fushimi Inari Shrine is to explore the mountain trails and the double corridor torii gates, the shrine buildings themselves are also attractive. At the shrine's entrance stands the Romon Gate, which was donated in 1589 by the famous leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Behind stands the shrine's main hall (honden) where visitors and locals pay respect to the resident deity by making a small offering.
At the very back of the shrine's main grounds is the entrance to the torii gate-covered hiking trail, which starts with two dense parallel rows of gates called Senbon Torii ("thousands of torii gates"). The torii gates along the entire trail are donations by individuals and companies, and you will find the donator's name and the date of the donation inscribed on the back of each gate. The cost starts around ¥400,000 for a small sized gate and increases to over ¥1,000,000 for a large gate.
The hike to the summit of the mountain and back takes about 2-3 hours, however, visitors are free to walk just as far as they wish before turning back. Along the way, there are multiple smaller shrines with stacks of miniature torii gates that were donated by visitors with smaller budgets. There are also a few restaurants along the way, which offer locally themed dishes such as Inari Sushi and Kitsune Udon ("Fox Udon"), both featuring pieces of aburaage (fried tofu), said to be a favourite food of foxes.
After about a 30-45 minute ascent and a gradual decrease in the density of torii gates, visitors will reach the Yotsutsuji intersection roughly half way up the mountain, where some nice views over Kyoto can be enjoyed, and then the trail splits into a circular route to the summit. Many hikers only venture as far as here, as the trails do not offer much variation beyond this point and the gate density decreases further.
For the photographers...
Having mis-timed our trip to the bamboo forest the previous day (too many tourists) we went early. The easiest way to get there is to take the train from Kyoto Station, a journey of about 10 minutes. Both the Keihan Main line and the JR Nara line stop close to the shrine but we took the JR Nara as it's station is literally across the road from the Romon Gate and the start of the shrine complex. Even at 7:30am there were signs of coach parties arriving and so we headed straight for the torii gates. It took about 10 minutes to reach Senbon torii and we passed through some pretty big ones en route.
The day was overcast with rain predicted later on in the morning and here lies the difficulty in photographing these things... I don't want to make excuses from the off but for anyone thinking of following in our footsteps... forewarned is forearmed! The double row of torii gates are at best guess, 8ft tall and 8ft wide and very tightly arranged and surprisingly dark once you step inside making handheld shots difficult if you want any decent depth of field. You'll notice that all the uprights are blank, that's because the Japanese calligraphy is on the other side and best seen from the top of the corridor but then you're likely to meet the hoards of people coming up behind you.
It only takes a couple of minutes to walk the length of Senbon torii although I stopped every couple of yards trying to capture these cliché interiors. However, all is not lost and after exiting the Senbon torii, the other gates start to thin out as does the number of tourists. It always amazes me the number of people who can't be bothered to go the whole nine yards when visiting such places, after all if you've travelled thousands of miles to get there then you might as well see the whole shebang! I reckon only 10% made it to the top that day, which is really where this little blog ends. No sooner had we summited then it began to rain and boy did it rain... our one and only bad day. The coach parties of tourists never made it beyond the double gates for they hightailed it back down, umbrellas up every last one of them back to the coaches. I never got a second chance on the way down due to the bobbing flow of umbrellas but at least I'd got something in the can on the way up. If I could shoot it all again... I'd go in the summer months when the light might favour the early start, use a faster lens and take a tripod, just in case you get the chance to use it.