Teaching Comparative Religion Through Art and Architecture
 
Sacred Spaces in Shinto
Jinja (Shrine) Shinto

I. Background
II. The Shrine Complex
III. Two Shrines

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BACKGROUND: Early Shinto Shrines
(photo credit)
Nachi waterfall is a sacred space for Shinto.The falls were originally devoted to kami verneration. Today they are also associated with the Buddhist bodhissatva of mercy, Kannon. The rope over the top of the falls is a shimenawa, marking the site as sacred.

(photo credit)
Rock Garden at Buddhist temple (Ryoan-ji). Shinto regard for simplicity and nature have influencedBuddhist practices in Japan. 
 
Harmony With Nature
Shinto-"the way of the kami"- is rooted deeply in pre-historic Japanese religious and agricultural practices. The term kami can refer to Japanese mythological deities, but also can mean divinity manifested in natural objects, places, animals, and even human beings. Shinto rituals and celebrations stress harmony between deities, man, and nature -- a key feature of Japanese religious life and art to the present time.

Reflecting the understanding that the kami resides in nature, Shinto shrines were traditionally near unusual "concentrations" of nature such as waterfalls, caves, rock formations, mountain tops, or forest glens. Rather than buildings, shrines of the earliest age were sacred precincts such as mounds, groves, or caves. Rituals were held outdoors, among natural surroundings, with no particular structure for them. For example, the foremost ritual of Shinto priests, the purification (harai) was done with natural water sources such as waterfalls, hot springs and rivers. 

 
First Structures


The Imperial Ise Shrine is an example of the earliest Shinto design.
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A paper or cloth strip affixed to a stand, as here at 
Tomakamai Shrine, is one example of an ritual object 
that can embody or summon the spirit of the kami. 
The earliest constructed Shinto shrines suggest the form of single dwelling houses in ancient times and were in fact intended to house ancestral spirits who would be given food offerings. This pre-historic Japanese ancestor worship was incorporated into the Shinto practice of enshrining deities named in the Kojiki and historical heroes as kami.

The kami can be divided into two main categories: kami of natural phenomena (the object kami) and kami of mythical or historical people (the active kami).  Shrines were erected to house both kinds of kami and accommodate rituals and celebrations intended to maintain harmonious unity between the deities and man. The location of a shrine represented the legendary settlement of that shrine's kami. The resident kami might be represented by symbols or sanctified objects. Under the influence of Buddhism, kami can also, though more rarely, be represented by statues. 


Nachi Shrine
The Nachi Shrine is a Shinto/Buddhist multiplex. Indigenous
practices of Shinto gradually incorporated imported practices of Chinese Buddhism. The syncretic history of Japanese religion can be seen in the evolving architecture of sacred spaces.(photo credit)		 Like the earliest Japanese dwellings, the shrines were made entirely of wood. For walls, no clay or mud was used, nor was plaster or mortar. Poles set in the ground supported a thatched roof and walls. Thatching consisted of either the barks of the Japanese "hinoki" or miscanthus or thin wooden plates, and the ridges of roofs are made of wood in the shape of a box. The roofs, which shed Japan's heavy rainfall, are built up in a delicate curve from strips of Hinoki bark and then trimmed. The forked timbers on the roof are called chigi. The short logs lying horizontally across the ridge of the roof are called katsuogi.

(photo credit)
Thatched Ainu building in Hokkaido. 		 The Ainu, a hunting and fishing people who once populated the main island of Japan and were gradually driven north by the Japanese, also built with thatch roof and walls. An example seen here is from the Ainu museum in Hokkaido. One controversial fact that might also suggest some relation between their religions is the Ainu name for "divinity," kamui, which sounds similar to the Japanese word, kami.
Shrine Complexes
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Izumo Shrine Complex
As Shinto became more established in Japanese society, people needed more convenient access to worshipping the kami, and shrine complexes were built within villages and cities. More convenient methods of conducting rituals were adopted and led to the introduction of the shrine complex with ceremonial buildings in addition to the hall enshrining the kami.

By medieval times the 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. Worshippers in the haiden directed their prayers to the honden, which housed a specific kami symbolized by a sacred object from Japanese mythology such as a mirror or sword.  (Plan of Izumo Shrine showing honden and haiden.)
 
Influence of Buddhism


Eight-post torii at Asakusa Buddhist temple. 
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(photo credit)
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The curved roof and ornamental detail 
of Tomakamai Shinto Shrine shows 
the Chinese architectural influence 
imported with Buddhism.
 
After the introduction of Buddhism from China and Korea in the middle of the sixth century (552 A.D.) Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples began to be integrated into the same architectural complex. Today you can find Shinto elements in many Japanese Buddhist shrines; Chinese styles, imported with the new religion, likewise influenced the development of Shinto shrines. The Shinto shrine structure became more elaborate under the influence of the grander Chinese style of Buddhist temples. The rise of a powerful aristocracy in the Fujiwara clan also contributed to the changes. Shrines reflected family honor and noble families commissioned the designs and supported the building of many new magnificent shrines in Kyoto and Nara, cities where one may still find the most beautiful and elaborate shrines in Japan. (See Heian Shrine in Kyoto at bottom of this page.) Curving roofs were introduced, accessory structures, corridors were substituted for fences surrounding shrines, and simple torii were replaced by four- or eight-post gates. Many shrines were painted with Chinese red. Metal and wood ornaments were added, often with the same decorative motifs found in Buddhist temples. Wood remains the most common building material for the shrines, but considerations of cost and fire prevention have resulted in the introduction of cement in some modern shrines.

(photo credit)
(Click on image for larger view.)
This modern shrine in Fukuoka City uses cement rather than wood in traditional designs.
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The grand scale of the Heian Shrine in Kyoto shows the influence of Buddhist architecture and the support of noble patronage.

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