Shinto | |
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This article is part of a series on Shinto |
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Kami · Ritual purity · Polytheism · Animism · Japanese festivals · Mythology · | |
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List of Shinto shrines · Twenty-Two Shrines · Modern system of ranked Shinto Shrines · Association of Shinto Shrines | |
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Amaterasu · Sarutahiko · Ame no Uzume · Inari · Izanagi · Izanami · Susanoo · Tsukuyomi | |
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Kojiki · Nihon Shoki · Fudoki · Rikkokushi · Shoku Nihongi · Jinnō Shōtōki · Kujiki | |
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Religion in Japan · Glossary of Shinto · List of Shinto divinities · Sacred objects · Japanese Buddhism · Mythical creatures | |
Shinto Portal |
A Shinto shrine is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more Shinto kami.[1] (Its most important building is used for the safekeeping of sacred objects, and not for worship).[2] Although only one word ("shrine") is used in English, in Japanese Shinto shrines may carry any one of many different, non-equivalent names like gongen, -gū, jinja, jingū, mori, myōjin, -sha, taisha, ubusuna or yashiro. (For details, see the section Interpreting shrine names.)
Structurally, a shrine is usually characterized by the presence of a honden [note 1] or sanctuary, where the kami is enshrined.[1] The honden may however be completely absent, as for example when the shrine stands on a sacred mountain to which it is dedicated, and which is worshiped directly. The honden may be missing also when there are nearby altar-like structures called himorogi or objects believed capable of attracting spirits called yorishiro that can serve as a more direct bond to a kami.[3] There may be a haiden (拝殿 hall of worship ) and other structures as well (see below).
Miniature shrines called hokora can occasionally be found at the side of streets. Large shrines sometimes have on their precincts miniature shrines called sessha (摂社 ) or massha (末社 ).[note 2] The portable shrines carried by faithful on poles during festivals (matsuri) and called mikoshi actually enshrine a kami and are therefore true shrines.
The number of Shinto shrines in Japan is estimated to be around 100,000.[4]
In the Yayoi period the Japanese did not have the notion of anthropomorphic deities, and felt the presence of spirits in nature and its phenomena.[5] Mountains, forests, rain, wind, lightning and sometimes animals were thought to be charged with spiritual power, a power whose worldly manifestations were worshiped as kami, entities closer in their essence to Polynesian mana than to a Western god.[5] The spirits which gave life to human bodies came from nature and returned to it after death. Ancestors were therefore themselves kami to be worshiped. Yayoi-period village councils sought the advice of ancestors and other kami, and developed instruments to evoke them called yorishiro (依り代 ), a word that literally means approach substitute.[5] Yorishiro were conceived to attract the kami and give them a physical space to occupy, thus making them accessible to human beings.[5]
Village council sessions were held in a quiet spot in the mountains or in a forest near a great tree or other natural object that served as a yorishiro.[5] These sacred places and their yorishiro gradually evolved into today's shrines, whose origins can be still seen in the Japanese words for "mountain" and "forest", which can also mean "shrine".[5] Many shrines have on their grounds one of the original great yorishiro: a big tree, surrounded by a sacred rope called shimenawa (標縄・注連縄・七五三縄 ).[5][note 3]
The very first buildings at places dedicated to worship were surely huts built to house some yorishiro.[5] A trace of this origin can be found in the term hokura (神庫 ), literally meaning "deity storehouse", which evolved into hokora (written with the same characters 神庫), and is considered to be one of the first words for shrine.[5][note 4]
Real shrines were born with the beginning of agriculture, when for the first time the need arose to draw a kami to a particular place to ensure good harvests.[6] These were however just temporary structures built for a particular purpose, a tradition of which we find traces in some rituals still performed today.[6]
Hints of what the first shrines must have been like can still be found here and there.[5] Ōmiwa Shrine in Nara, for example, contains no sacred images or objects because it is believed to serve the mountain on which it stands. Those images or objects are therefore not necessary.[5][7] For the same reason, it has a worship hall (a haiden (拝殿 )), but no place to house the kami (shinden (神殿 )).[5] Archeology confirms that indeed during the Yayoi period the most common shintai (神体 ) (a yorishiro actually housing the enshrined kami) in the earliest shrines was a nearby mountain peak supplying with its streams water, and therefore life, to the plains below where people lived.[8] Besides the already mentioned Ōmiwa Shrine, another important example is Mount Nantai, a phallus-shaped mountain in Nikko which constitutes Futarasan Shrine's shintai.[8] Significantly, the name Nantai (男体 ) itself means "man's body".[8] The mountain not only provides water to the rice paddies below, but has the shape of the phallic stone rods found in pre-agricultural Jōmon sites.[8]
The arrival of Buddhism changed the situation, introducing to Japan the concept of a permanent shrine.[6] A great number of Buddhist temples were built next to existing shrines in mixed complexes called jingū-ji (神宮寺 lit. shrine temple ) to help priesthood deal with local kami, making those shrines permanent. Some time in their evolution, the word Miya (宮 ) meaning "palace" came into use, indicating that shrines had by then become the imposing structures of today.[5]
Once the first permanent shrines were built, Shinto revealed a strong tendency to resist architectural change, a tendency which manifested itself in the so-called Shikinen sengū-sai (式年遷宮祭 ), the tradition of rebuilding shrines faithfully at regular intervals adhering strictly to their original design. This custom is the reason ancient styles have been replicated through the centuries to the present day, remaining more or less intact.[6] Ise Shrine, still rebuilt every 20 years, is its best extant example. The tradition of rebuilding shrines or temples is present in other religions, but in Shinto it has played a particularly significant role in preserving ancient architectural styles.[6] Izumo Taisha, Sumiyoshi Taisha and Nishina Shinmei Shrine in fact represent each a different style whose origin is believed to predate Buddhism in Japan, a religion which arrived in Japan around the beginning of the sixth century.[6] These three styles are known respectively as taisha-zukuri, sumiyoshi-zukuri and shinmei-zukuri (see description below).
Shrines weren't of course completely immune to change, and in fact show various influences, particularly that of Buddhism, a cultural import which provided much of Shinto architecture's vocabulary. The rōmon (楼門 tower gate ),[note 5] the haiden, the kairō (回廊 corridor ), the tōrō, or stone lantern, and the komainu, or lion dogs, (see below for an explanation of these terms) are all elements borrowed from Buddhism.
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.[9] In spite of what their name may suggest, shintai are not themselves part of kami, but rather just symbolic repositories which make them accessible to human beings for worship.[10] It is said therefore that the kami inhabits them.[11] Shintai are also of necessity yorishiro, that is objects by their very nature capable of attracting kami.
The most common shintai are man-made objects like mirrors, swords, jewels (for example comma-shaped stones called magatama), gohei (wands used during religious rites), and sculptures of kami called shinzō (神像 ),[note 7] but they can be also natural objects such as rocks, mountains, trees and waterfalls.[9] Mountains were among the first, and are still among the most important, shintai, and are worshiped at several famous shrines. A mountain believed to house a kami, as for example Mount Fuji or Mount Miwa, is called a shintai-zan (ja:神体山 ).[12] In the case of a man-made shintai, a kami must be invited to reside in it (see the next subsection, Kanjō).[11]
The founding of a new shrine requires the presence of either a pre-existing, naturally occurring shintai (for example a rock or waterfall housing a local kami), or of an artificial one, which must therefore be procured or made to the purpose. An example of the first case are the Nachi Falls, worshiped at Hiryū Shrine near Kumano Nachi Taisha and believed to be inhabited by a kami called Hiryū Gongen.[13]
The first duty of a shrine is to house and protect its shintai and the kami which inhabits it.[11] If a shrine has more than one building, the one containing the shintai is called honden; because it is meant for the exclusive use of the kami, it is always closed to the public and is not used for prayer or religious ceremonies. The shintai leaves the honden only during festivals (matsuri), when it is put in portable shrines (mikoshi) and carried around the streets among the faithful.[11] The portable shrine is used to physically protect the shintai and to hide it from sight.[11]
Often the opening of a new shrine will require the ritual division of a kami and the transferring of one of the two resulting spirits to the new location, where it will animate the shintai. This process is called kanjō, and the divided spirits bunrei (分霊 divided spirit ), go-bunrei (御分霊 ) or wakemitama (分霊 ).[14] This process of propagation, described by the priests, in spite of this name, not as a division but as akin to the lighting of a candle from another already lit, leaves the original kami intact in its original place and therefore doesn't alter any of its properties.[14] The resulting spirit has all the qualities of the original and is therefore "alive" and permanent.[14] The process is used often, for example during Shinto festivals (Matsuri) to animate temporary shrines called mikoshi.[15]
The transfer does not necessarily take place from a shrine to another: the divided spirit's new location can be a privately-owned object or an individual's house.[16] The kanjō process was of fundamental importance in the creation of all of Japan's shrine networks (Inari shrines, Hachiman shrines, etc.).
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.[note 8] 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 to Sugawara no Michizane, like Kitano Tenman-gū.
Often the shrines historically most significant do not lie in a former center of power like Kyoto, Nara or Kamakura. For example Ise Shrine, the Imperial household's family shrine, is in Mie prefecture. Izumo-taisha, one of the oldest and most revered shrines in Japan, is in Shimane prefecture.[17] This is because their location is that of a traditionally important kami, and not that of temporal institutions.
Some shrines exist only in one locality, while others are at the head of a network of branch shrines (分社 bunsha ) that extends to all the country.[18] The spreading of a kami can be due to one or more of several different mechanisms. The normal one is an operation called kanjō (see the Re-enshrinement section above), a propagation process through which a kami is invited to a new location and there re-enshrined. The new shrine is administratively completely independent from the one it originated from.
However, other transfer mechanisms exist. In Ise Shrine's case, for example, its network of Shinmei shrines (from Shinmei (神明 ), another name for Amaterasu) grew due to two concurrent causes. During the late Heian period the cult of Amaterasu, worshiped initially only at Ise Shrine, started to spread to the shrine's possessions through the usual kanjō mechanism.[18] Later, branches shrines started to appear further away. The first evidence of a Shinmei shrine far from Ise is given by the Azuma Kagami, a Kamakura period text which refers to Amanawa Shinmei-gū's appearance in Kamakura, Kanagawa. Amaterasu began being worshiped in other parts of the country also because of the so-called tobi shinmei (飛び神明 flying Shinmei ) phenomenon, the belief that she would fly to other locations and settle there.[18] Similar mechanisms have been responsible for the spreading around the country of other kami.
Ise Shrine in Mie prefecture is, with Izumo-taisha, the most representative and historically significant shrine in Japan.[19] The kami the two enshrine play fundamental roles in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, two texts of great importance to Shinto.[19] Because its kami, Amaterasu, is an ancestor of the Emperor, Ise Shrine is the Imperial Household's family shrine. Ise Shrine is however dedicated specifically to the emperor and in the past even his mother, wife and grandmother needed his permission to worship there.[20] Its traditional and mythological foundation date goes back to 4 BC, but historians believe it was founded around the 3rd to 5th century.
Izumo Taisha (Shimane prefecture) is so old that no document about its birth survives, and the year of foundation is therefore unknown. The shrine is at the center of a series of popular sagas and myths.[19] The kami it enshrines, Ōkuninushi, created Japan before it was populated by Amaterasu's offspring, the Emperor's ancestors.[19] Because of its physical remoteness, in historical times Izumo has been eclipsed in fame by other sites, but there is still a widespread belief that in October all Japanese gods meet there.[19] For this reason, this month is known also as Month Without Gods (神無月 Kannazuki ) (one of its names in the old lunar calendar), while at Izumo Taisha alone it is referred to as Month With Gods (神在月 or 神有月 Kamiarizuki ).[21]
Fushimi Inari Taisha is the head shrine of the largest shrine network in Japan, which has more than 32 000 members (about a third of the total). Inari Okami worship started here in the 8th century and has continued ever since, expanding to the rest of the country. Located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, the shrine sits at the base of a mountain also named Inari, and includes trails up the mountain to many smaller shrines. Another very large example is the Yūtoku Inari Shrine in Kashima City, Saga Prefecture.
Ōita Prefecture's Usa Shrine (called in Japanese Usa Jingū or Usa Hachiman-gū) is, together with Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū, the head of the Hachiman shrine network.[22] Hachiman worship started here at least as far back as the Nara period (710–794). In the year 860 the kami was divided and brought to Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū in Kyoto, which became the focus of Hachiman worship in the capital.[23] Located on top of Mount Otokoyama, Usa Hachiman-gū is dedicated to Emperor Ojin, his mother Empress Jungū and female kami Hime no Okami.[24]
Itsukushima Shrine is, together with Munakata Taisha, at the head of the Munakata shrine network (see below). Famous for his torii raising from the waters, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The shrine is dedicated to the three daughters of Susano-o no Mikoto, kami of seas and storms and brother of the great sun kami.
Kasuga Taisha is a Shinto shrine in the city of Nara, in Nara Prefecture, Japan. Established in 768 A.D. and rebuilt several times over the centuries, it is the shrine of the Fujiwara family. The interior is famous for its many bronze lanterns, as well as the many stone lanterns that lead up the shrine. The architectural style Kasuga-zukuri takes its name from Kasuga Taisha's honden.
The Kumano Sanzan shrine complex, head of the Kumano shrine network, includes Kumano Hayatama Taisha (Wakayama Prefecture, Shingu), Kumano Hongu Taisha (Wakayama Prefecture, Tanabe), and Kumano Nachi Taisha (Wakayama Prefecture, Nachikatsuura).[25] The shrines lie at between 20 to 40 km of distance one from the other.[25] They are connected by the pilgrimage route known as "Kumano Sankeimichi" (熊野参詣道 ). The great Kumano Sanzan complex also includes two Buddhist temples, Seiganto-ji and Fudarakusan-ji.[note 9][25]
The religious significance of the Kumano region goes back to prehistoric times, and therefore predates all modern religions in Japan.[25] The area was, and still is, considered a place of physical healing.
Yasukuni shrine, in Tokyo, is dedicated to the soldiers and others who died fighting on behalf of the Emperor of Japan.
The ten largest shrine networks in Japan[18] | Branch shrines | Head shrine |
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Inari shrines | 32 000 | Fushimi Inari Taisha (Kyoto) |
Hachiman shrines | 25 000 | Usa Hachiman-gū (Oita prefecture, Kyushu), Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū (Kyoto) |
Shinmei shrines | 18 000 | Ise Jingū (Mie prefecture) |
Tenjin shrines | 10500 | Dazaifu Tenman-gū (Fukuoka prefecture, Kyushu), Kitano Tenman-gū (Kyoto) |
Munakata shrines | 8 500 | Munakata Taisha (Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu), Itsukushima Shrine (Hiroshima) |
Suwa shrines | 5 000 | Suwa Taisha (Nagano prefecture) |
Hiyoshi shrines | 4 000 | Hiyoshi Taisha (Shiga prefecture) |
Kumano shrines | 3 000 | Kumano Nachi Taisha (Wakayama prefecture) |
Tsushima shrines | 3 000 | Tsushima Shrine (Aichi prefecture) |
Yasaka shrines | 3 000 | Yasaka Shrine (Kyoto) |
The following six shrine networks alone account for more than 90% of all shrines in Japan.
The number of branch shrines gives an approximate indication of their religious significance, and neither Ise Shrine nor Izumo-taisha can claim the first place.[17] By far the most numerous are shrines dedicated to Inari, tutelary kami of agriculture popular all over Japan, which alone constitute almost a third of the total.[18] Inari also protects fishing, commerce and productivity in general. For this reason, many modern Japanese corporations have shrines dedicated to Inari on their premises. Inari shrines are usually very small, to be easy to maintain, but can also be very large, as in the case of Fushimi Inari Taisha, the head shrine of the network. The kami is also enshrined in some Buddhist temples.[17]
The entrance to an Inari shrine is usually marked by one or more vermilion torii and two white foxes (See photo above). This red color has come to be identified with Inari because of the prevalence of its use among Inari shrines and their torii.[26] The kitsune statues are at times mistakenly believed to be a form assumed by Inari, and they typically come in pairs, representing a male and a female, although sex is usually not obvious.[27] These fox statues hold a symbolic item in their mouths or beneath a front paw — most often a jewel and a key, but a sheaf of rice, a scroll, or a fox cub are all common. Almost all Inari shrines, no matter how small, will feature at least a pair of these statues, usually flanking or on the altar or in front of the main sanctuary.[27]
A syncretic entity worshiped as both a kami and a Buddhist daibosatsu, Hachiman is intimately associated with both learning and warriors.[18] In the sixth or seventh Century Emperor Ōjin and his mother Empress Jingū came to be identified together with Hachiman.[28] First enshrined at Usa Hachiman-gū in Ōita Prefecture, Hachiman was deeply revered during the Heian period. According to the Kojiki, it was Ōjin who invited Korean and Chinese scholars to Japan, and for this reason he is the patron of writing and learning.
Because as Emperor Ōjin he was an ancestor of the Minamoto clan, Hachiman became the tutelary kami (氏神 ujigami ) of the Minamoto samurai clan[18] of Kawachi (Osaka). After Minamoto no Yoritomo became shogun and established the Kamakura shogunate, Hachiman's popularity grew and he became by extension the protector of the warrior class the shogun had brought to power. For this reason, the shintai of a Hachiman shrine is usually a stirrup or a bow.[28]
During the Japanese medieval period, Hachiman worship spread throughout Japan among not only samurai, but also the peasantry. Presently there are 25000 shrines in Japan dedicated to him, the second most numerous after those of the Inari network.[18] Usa Hachiman-gū is the network's head shrine together with Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū. However, Hakozaki Shrine and Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū are historically no less significant shrines, and are more popular.
Headed by Kyūshū's Munakata Taisha and Itsukushima Shrine, shrines in this network enshrine the Three Female Kami of Munakata (宗像三女神 Munakata Sanjoshin ), namely Chikishima Hime-no-Kami, Tagitsu Hime-no-Kami, and Tagori Hime-no-Kami.[29] The same three kami are enshrined elsewhere in the network, sometimes under a different name. However, while Munakata Taisha enshrines all three in separate islands belonging to its complex, branch shrines generally do not; which kami they enshrine depends on the history of the shrine and the myths tied to it.[29]
The Tenjin shrine network enshrines 9th century scholar Sugawara no Michizane. Sugawara had originally been enshrined to placate his spirit, not to be worshiped.[30] Michizane had been unjustly been exiled in his life, and it was therefore necessary to somehow placate his rage, believed to be the cause of a plague and other disasters. Kitano Tenman-gū was the first of the shrines dedicated to him. Because in life he was a scholar, he became the kami of learning, and during the Edo period schools often opened a branch shrine for him.[18] Another important shrine dedicated to him is Dazaifu Tenman-gū.
While the ritsuryō legal system was in use, visits by commoners to Ise were forbidden.[18] With its weakening during the Heian period, commoners also started being allowed to the shrine. The growth of the Shinmei shrine network was due to two concomitant causes. During the late Heian period goddess Amaterasu, worshiped initially only at Ise Shrine, started to be re-enshrined in branch shrines in Ise's own possessions through the usual kanjō mechanism. The first evidence of a Shinmei shrine elsewhere is given by the Azuma Kagami, a Kamakura period text which refers to Amanawa Shinmei-gū's appearance in Kamakura.[18] Amaterasu spread to other parts of the country also because of the so-called tobi shinmei (飛び神明 flying Shinmei ) phenomenon, the belief that Amaterasu flew to other locations and settled there.[18]
Kumano shrines enshrine the three Kumano mountains: Hongū, Shingū, and Nachi (the Kumano Gongen (熊野権現 )).[31] The point of origin of the Kumano cult is the Kumano Sanzan shrine complex, which includes Kumano Hayatama Taisha (熊野速玉大社 ) (Wakayama Prefecture, Shingu), Kumano Hongu Taisha (Wakayama Prefecture, Tanabe), and Kumano Nachi Taisha (Wakayama Prefecture, Nachikatsuura).[25] There are more than 3000 Kumano shrines in Japan.
The following is a diagram illustrating the most important parts of a Shinto shrine.
The general blueprint of a Shinto shrine is Buddhist in origin.[5] The presence of verandas, stone lanterns, and elaborate gates is an example of this influence. The composition of a Shinto shrine is extremely variable, and none of its possible features is necessarily present. Even the honden can be missing if the shrine worships a nearby natural shintai.
However, since its grounds are sacred, they are usually 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 usually the simplest way to identify a Shinto shrine.
A shrine may include within its grounds several structures, each destined to a different purpose.[32] Among them are the already mentioned honden or sanctuary, where the kami are enshrined, the heiden or hall of offerings, where offers and prayers are presented, and the haiden or hall of worship, where there may be seats for worshipers.[32] The honden is the building that contains the shintai, literally, "the sacred body of the kami".[note 10] Of these, only the haiden is open to the laity. The honden is usually located behind the haiden and is often much smaller and unadorned. Other notable shrine features are the temizuya, the fountain where visitors cleanse their hands and mouth, and the shamusho (社務所 ), the office which oversees the shrine.[32] Buildings are often adorned by chigi and katsuogi, variously oriented poles which protrude from their roof (see illustration above).
Before the Meiji Restoration it was common for a Buddhist temple to be built inside or next to a shrine, or viceversa for a shrine to include Buddhist subtemples.[33] If a shrine housed a Buddhist temple, it was called a jingūji (神宮寺 ). Analogously, temples all over Japan adopted tutelary kami (chinju (鎮守/鎮主 ) and built temple shrines (寺社 jisha ) to house them.[34] After the forcible separation of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines (shinbutsu bunri) ordered by the new government in the Meiji period, the connection between the two religions was officially severed, but continued nonetheless in practice and is still visible today.[33]
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 -zukuri in this case means "structure".)
The honden's roof is always gabled, and some styles also have a veranda-like aisle called hisashi (a 1-ken wide corridor surrounding one or more sides of the core of a shrine or temple). Among the factors involved in the classification, important are the presence or absence of:
(The gallery at the end of this article contains examples of both styles.)
Proportions are also important. A building of a given style often must have certain proportions measured in ken (the distance between pillars, a quantity variable from one shrine to another or even within the same shrine).
The oldest styles are the tsumairi shinmei-zukuri, taisha-zukuri, and sumiyoshi-zukuri, believed to predate the arrival of Buddhism.[35]
The two most common are the hirairi nagare-zukuri and the tsumairi kasuga-zukuri.[36] Larger, more important shrines tend to have unique styles.
The following are the two most common shrine styles in Japan.
The nagare-zukuri (流造 flowing style ) or nagare hafu-zukuri (流破風造 flowing gabled style ) is a style characterized by a very asymmetrical gabled roof (kirizuma-yane (切妻屋根 ) in Japanese) projecting outwards on the non-gabled side, above the main entrance, to form a portico (see photo).[36] This is the feature which gives the style its name, the most common among shrines all over the country. Sometimes the basic layout consisting of an elevated core (母屋 moya ) partially surrounded by a veranda called hisashi (all under the same roof) is modified by the addition of a room in front of the entrance.[36] The honden varies in roof ridge length from 1 to 11 ken, but is never 6 or 8 ken.[37] The most common sizes are 1 and 3 ken. The oldest shrine in Japan, Uji's Ujigami Shrine, has a honden of this type. Its external dimensions are 5x3 ken, but internally it is composed of three sanctuaries (内殿 naiden ) measuring 1 ken each.[37]
Kasuga-zukuri (春日造 ) as a style takes its name from Kasuga Taisha's honden. It is characterized by the extreme smallness of the building, just 1x1 ken in size. In Kasuga Taisha's case, this translates in 1.9 m x 2.6 m.[38] The roof is gabled with a single entrance at the gabled end, decorated with chigi and katsuogi, covered with cypress bark and curved upwards at the eaves. Supporting structures are painted vermillion, while the plank walls are white.[38]
After the Nagare-zukuri (see above), this is the most common style, with most instances in the Kansai region around Nara.[36]
The following four styles predate the arrival in Japan of Buddhism.
This style is rare, but historically important. It is also unique in that the honden, normally the very center of a shrine, is missing. 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.[36] 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.
Shinmei-zukuri (神明造 ) is an ancient style typical of, and most common at, Ise Grand Shrine, the holiest of Shinto shrines.[36] It is most common in Mie prefecture.[39] Characterized by an extreme simplicity, its basic features can be seen in Japanese architecture from the Kofun period (250–538 C.E.) onwards and it is considered the pinnacle of Japanese traditional architecture. Built in planed, unfinished wood, the honden is either 3x2 ken or 1x1ken in size, has a raised floor, a gabled roof with an entry on one the non-gabled sides, no upward curve at the eaves, and decorative logs called chigi and katsuogi protruding from the roof's ridge.[39] The oldest extant example is Nishina Shinmei Shrine.[35]
Sumiyoshi-zukuri (住吉造 ) takes its name from Sumiyoshi Taisha's honden in Ōsaka. The building is 4 ken wide and 2 ken deep, and has an entrance under the gable.[35] Its interior is divided in two sections, one at the front (gejin (外陣 )) and one at the back (naijin (内陣 )) with a single entrance at the front.[40] Construction is simple, but the pillars are painted in vermilion and the walls in white.
The style is supposed to have its origin in old palace architecture[40] Another example of this style is Sumiyoshi Jinja, part of the Sumiyoshi Sanjin complex in Fukuoka Prefecture.[40] In both cases, as in many others, there is no veranda.
Taisha-zukuri or Ōyashiro-zukuri (大社造 ) is the oldest shrine style, takes its name from Izumo Taisha and, like Ise Grand Shrine's, has chigi and katsuogi, plus archaic features like gable-end pillars and a single central pillar (shin no mihashira).[36] Because its floor is raised on stilts, it is believed to have its origin in raised-floor granaries similar to those found in Toro, Shizuoka prefecture.[41]
The honden normally has a 2x2 ken footprint (12.46x12.46 m in Izumo Taisha's case), with an entrance on the gabled end. The stairs to the honden are covered by a cypress bark roof. The oldest extant example of the style is Kamosu Jinja's honden in Shimane prefecture, built in the 16th century.
Many other architectural styles exist, most of them rare. For details, see Shinto architecture - Other styles
Shrine nomenclature has changed considerably since the Meiji period. Until then, the vast majority of shrines were small and had no permanent priest.[42] With very few exceptions, they were just a part of a temple-shrine complex controlled by Buddhist clergy.[42] They usually enshrined a local tutelary kami, so they were called with the name of the kami followed by terms like gongen, ubusuna (産土 ), short for "ubusuna no kami", or guardian deity of one's birthplace, or myōjin (明神 great kami ). The term jinja (神社 ), now the most common, was rare.[42] Examples of this kind of pre-Meiji use are Tokusō Daigongen and Kanda Myōjin.
Today, the term "Shinto shrine" in English is used in opposition to ""Buddhist temple" to mirror in English the distinction made in Japanese between Shinto and Buddhist religious structures. This single English word however translates several non equivalent Japanese words, including jinja (神社 ) as in Yasukuni Jinja, yashiro (社 ) as in Tsubaki Ōkami Yashiro, miya (宮 ) as in Watarai no Miya, -gū (宮 ) as in Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū, jingū (神宮 ) as in Meiji Jingū, taisha (大社 ) as in Izumo Taisha,[32] mori (杜 ), and hokora/hokura (神庫 ).
Shrine names are descriptive, and a difficult problem in dealing with them is understanding exactly what they mean. Although there is a lot of variation in their composition, it is usually possible to identify in them two parts. The first is the shrine's name proper, or meishō (名称 ), the second is the so-called shōgō (称号 ), or "title".[43]
The most common meishō is the location where the shrine stands, as for example in the case of Ise Jingū, the most sacred of shrines, which is located in the city of Ise, Mie prefecture.[44]
Very often the meishō will be the name of the kami enshrined. An Inari Shrine for example is a shrine dedicated to kami Inari. Analogously, a Kumano Shrine is a shrine that enshrines the three Kumano mountains. A Hachiman Shrine enshrines kami Hachiman. Tokyo's Meiji Shrine enshrines the Meiji Emperor. The name can also have other origins, often unknown or unclear.
The second part of the name defines the status of the shrine.
These names are not equivalent in terms of prestige: a taisha is more prestigious than a -gū, which in turn is more important than a jinja.
Shrines that are part of a World Heritage Site are set in bold.
The kannushi (神主 kami master ) or shinshoku (神職 kami employee ) is a priest responsible for the shrine's maintenance and for officiating ceremonies.[32] These two terms were not always synonyms. Originally a kannushi was a holy man who could work miracles and who, thanks to purificatory rites, could work as an intermediary between kami and man, but later the term evolved to being synonymous with shinshoku, that is, a man who works at a shrine and holds religious ceremonies there.[1][49]
Traditionally, most shrines did not have a kannushi and were maintained by a committee of parishioners called Ujiko (氏子). In a jinguji, Buddhist monks had of course to maintain both their shrine and their temple.
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