The other icon of Japan - Itsukushima Shinto Shrine 776
What and Why
Anyone who reads about Japan would say that the country has two icons that represent itself and its culture: one is Mount Fuji (Japanese: 富士山, Fujisan), which is already blogged earlier; and the other would be the Japanese shrine gates, which are seen everywhere in pictures. Amongst the many of these gates, the most famous has to be the one in Itsukushima Shinto Shrine (厳島神社, Itsukushima jinja) which is built in the late 6th century CE!
Before we discuss about what makes this shrine special, it is interesting to note that this gate is called a torii (鳥居), which carries the symbolic meaning of transforming from a mortal to an immortal. The interesting part of this gate is not the design, but its etymology. While the Japanese word suggests 'the bird's abode', the word torii derives from actually the Hindu word torana (Hindu: तोरण), meaning a bird gate, as birds like to sit on it. There is however no historic connotation that the Japanese version has anything to do with birds. By the way, the word torana eventually becomes our English word door.
Toponymy
Itsukushima (厳島) means the island of solemnness while the island is more commonly known as Miyajima (宮島), meaning the island of palace. The island Itsukushima is actually part of the city of Hatsukaichi (廿日市), meaning '20 day city', where the name derives from the fact that a bazaar is held on the 20th of each month in the city.
See
Shintō (神道)
We need to understand the concept of Shintō (神道) before we get into the shrine. Shintō, meaning the way of God, is Japan's indigenous religion. Shintō is polytheistic and revolves around the kami (神), meaning gods, spirits or supernatural entities believed to inhabit all things, natural or unnatural, as blogged earlier in Nikkō (日光). These kami are worshipped at kamidana (神棚), or altars like household shrines or public shrines.
A major concept in Shintō is ensuring purity by ablution, or misogi (禊) of various types including ritual washing or bathing. Shintō does not emphasise specific moral codes other than ritual purity, reverence for kami, and regular communion following seasonal practices. Shintō has no single creator or specific doctrinal text, but exists in a diverse range of localised anecdotal forms.
Ōtorii (大鳥居)
The most celebrated feature of the Itsukushima shrine is its red 16-m tall torii, or ōtorii (大鳥居, the big gate) built of decay-resistant camphor wood. The placement of the additional leg in front of and behind each main pillar identifies the torii as the style of the mediaeval Buddhism-fused Shintoism, or Shinbutsu-shūgō (神仏習合), in a way reflecting parallels with our blog in Dazu Rock Carvings (Chinese: 大足石刻, Dazushike) of Chongqing (重庆). The torii is built on a beach and appears to be floating in water during high tide. When the tide is low, it is approachable by foot from the island. Although the gate has been in place since the mid-12th century CE, the current reconstructed gate dates back only to the late 19th century CE.
Itsukushima Shrine (厳島神社)
The shrine is said to have been erected in the late 6th century CE during the Suiko (推古) period. The present shrine has been popularly attributed to Taira no Kiyomori (平清盛), a prominent warlord (大名, daimyō) who contributed heavily to the building of the shrine during his reign in the 12th century CE.
The Itsukushima shrine is dedicated to the three daughters of Susano-o (スサノオ) who is the god of storm: these three female deities are the respective goddesses of seas and storms. Kiyomori attributed the goddesses as manifestations of Kannon (Avalokiteśvara (Sanskrit: अवलोकितेश्वर)), therefore the island was understood as the home of the bodhisattva (Sanskrit: बोधिसत्त्व). In fact, the island itself is also considered to be a kami and generates continuous veneration throughout the centuries.
The shrine itself holds a number of important treasures. Its treasures include the celebrated Heike Nōkyō (平家納経), or sutras dedicated by the Taira clan. These consist of thirty-two scrolls, on which the Lotus, Amida (Amitābha (Sanskrit: अमिताभ)), and Heart sutras have been hand-copied by Kiyomori and his family members, each completing the writing of one scroll.
Originally Itsukushima was a pure Shinto shrine and the island itself has been considered sacred, commoners were not allowed to set foot on it throughout much of its history to maintain its purity. To allow pilgrims to approach, the shrine was built like a pier on a large wooden platform to give an illusion that it is floating on water, so that it appeared to float, separate from the land. Similarly the torii was built over the water for much the same reason. The entire complex is connected by wooden bridges and corridors to allow access during high-tides.
The shrine was designed and built according to the Shinden-zukuri (寝殿造) style, which is the dominant architectural style for palace construction during the Heian (平安) period.
Senjokaku (千畳閣) and Gojuto (五重塔)
The name means 1000-mat Pavilion, as it is just a massive hall with a lot of praying mats.
Daisho-in (大聖院)
A modest Buddhist temple nestled in the middle of the lush hill, flanked by colourful vegetations, it includes Dai-hannyakyo Sutra (大般若経, Sanskrit: प्रज्ञापारमिता), the golden prayer wheels that provides good fortune who touches it. It does take a bit of effort to hike up this hill.
Miyajima town
The town itself contains the usual touristy merchandise shops and it is the main access road between the ferry pier and the shrine. Plenty of good stuffs to look at.
Buy and Do
Momiji manjū (もみじ饅頭)
There are two local specialties: Momiji manjū (もみじ饅頭) and deer dung (鹿の糞, shika no kuso). The manjū is a maple-shaped red-bean paste confection which is only found in Itsukushima.
The deer dung is just a local chocolate, not the real shit. There are plenty of deers in the island to play around. Like their Nara (奈良) counterpart, they can be quite eager and aggressive for food.
Stay
We stayed in a capsule hotel in Okayama (岡山), which is just a 15-min bullet-train ride from Hiroshima (広島). Capsule hotels, while a fabulous Japanese invention, did have quite a dodgy reputation. I still remember perhaps a decade ago one of my Japanese friends was so embarrassed to tell me he stayed in one when he came for a conference!
Now capsules have established themselves very well and provide very decent service, and definitely nothing hanky-panky: in our case, a simple but good breakfast, a good sauna / public bath area, a good resting / movie area, way better than typical hotels. Our capsule is equipped with a television and wifi inside, so what more can you expect! We stayed in this place called the Sauna & Capsule Okayama (サウナ＆カプセルイン岡山). The only thing you need to take note is you have to stay very quiet.
Getting There and Around
The easy way to get to the island is to take the Japanese Rail (JR) Miyajima Ferry from the Miyajimaguchi station (宮島口駅, Miyajimaguchi-eki), which is included in the JR pass. The island itself is fully walkable, although part of the island includes a hike up to the 500 m high Mount Misen (弥山). It is now served by a ropeway. Spend a good day in the island.
UNESCO Inscription
The island of Itsukushima, in the Seto inland sea, has been a holy place of Shintoism since the earliest times. The first shrine buildings here were probably erected in the 6th century. The present shrine dates from the 12th century and the harmoniously arranged buildings reveal great artistic and technical skill. The shrine plays on the contrasts in colour and form between mountains and sea and illustrates the Japanese concept of scenic beauty, which combines nature and human creativity.
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