Shrines & Temples and Traditional Holidays


Shrines and Temples

  

            Temples or shrines are historical and culturally significant places of worship. Japan is filled with spirituality, culture, and history. Temples are where Buddhists go for worship. Shines are places gods of Shinto reside. In this section, I will be mentioning certain Temples and Shrines that are most significant to visit when going to Japan. So, how do you know the difference between a Shrine and a temple? The key difference is the entrance, for shrines, we see a Torri gate. This is typically red with 2 horizontal beams holding a vertical beam, which creates the boundary between sacred and non-religious land, usually guarded by lion-dog (komainu) statues. Another key factor for shines are sacred ropes (Shimenawa). On the contrary, temples have a Sanmon gate; these have tiled roofs, often guarded by Nio statues, which look more human. 


Lion-dog statue (Komaninu) - Shinto

Guardians of Buddhism (Nio) - Buddhism

Now I will be highlighting shines and temples that I found particularly Interesting:

1.     Izumo Taisha Shrine is located in Izumo, Shimane Prefecture. This shrine is often considered the oldest shrine in Japan. The god who resides here is known as the deity of good relationships and marriage. Something I didn't know was how visitors clap their hands four times instead of twice. This is because they are clapping twice for themselves and twice for their partner.


2.     Fushimi Inari Shrine: Most famous for its thousands of torii gates, in southern Kyoto. The god who resides here is the god of rice. All the gates that you see in this picture, as well as thousands more, were donated. The donor's name is inscribed in each, with the smaller gates being 400,000 yen and the larger ones over one million yen. I thought this was interesting as, I never thought about how they got the thousands of shrines, and learning about the different donations and offering for prosperity made this shrine even more meaningful.


3.     Itsukushima Shrine: During high tide, the shrine looks like it’s floating in Miyajima. This shrine was made for the most powerful man in Japan during the Heian period, where he selected this island as the where he wanted to establish his clan, resulting in him building the Itsukushima Shrine.


4.  Ise Jingu Shrine is located in Mie Prefecture, as the guardian of food, housing, and clothing. Worshippers wash themselves in the Isuzugawa River to wash off their impurities. This is also where the Kagura festivals are held each April and September, where there are performances of traditional Japanese poetry, dancing, and music.


5.     Nikko Toshogu Shrine was built in memorial for Tokugawa Ieyasu, who ruled Japan for 250 years. This shrine is well known for its countless wooden carvings that decorate the buildings. This shrine contains both Shinto and Buddhist elements and was commonplace to worship in the Meiji Period.

1.  Toda-ji Temple: The largest wooden structure in the world, founded in the beginning of the Heian Period. This temple is well known for its flea market that is held each 21st of each month from the early morning until around 3:30 in the afternoon. Almost like our farmers' market.

2.     Yama-dera Temple is well known for being a scenic temple located in Yamagata City. Known for its temple grounds high up in the steep mountainside, being over 1000 steps to reach. In the picture below, the founder, Jikaku Dashi, is seen present at the shrine.


3.     Kinkaku-ji also known as the Golden Pavilion, is located in Kyoto, who's top two floors are completely covered in gold leaf. This first floor is built in the Shinden style, which closely resembles, older homes in Japan. This Temple was created of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. Yoshimitsu created economic changes resulting in the developments of marketing, and different social classes.

Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion) - Kyoto Travel

4.     Senso-ji Temple is also known as Tokyo’s oldest temple. This Temple is locaed in Asakusa, and is well known for its colors. Upon entering the temple, there are shopping streets over 200 meters, leading to the temples second gate. At these "shops" there is food, prizes, and souvenirs you can buy! 

Sensoji (Asakusa Kannon Temple) - Tokyo Travel

5.     Kiyomizu-dera is famous for the wooden stage overlooking Kyoto. This temple was originally one of the oldest schools within Japanese Buddhism until 1965. The wooden stage is 13 meters above the hillside and is surrounded by the nice views of nature that change over the seasons. An interesting factor was that the main hall, which is attached to the stage, was built without the use of nails.



Omamori


Omamori is very similar to a lucky charm or an amulet; you can only get them at shrines or temples, and they are used for spiritual protection. Each of the different colors and characters you see on the amulet represents a different spiritual meaning, for example, there is road safety, academic success, business prosperity, love and relationships, healing and health, protection from misfortune, and protection of pregnancy.

Traditional Holidays

The purpose of girl's festival is to make dolls out of paper and send them down a river, carrying impurities down with them. 

Girls' festivals is on March 3rd, families with girls display hina ningyo, which expresses the wishes for their daughters' health and happiness. The display of these dolls is arranged on a three to seven tier steps with 15 dolls. On the top tier is the representation of the daughter in the family and the future husband. The second tier is the three ladies of the court. and the Third tier are the musicians. With a more elaborate tiered Hinamatsuri, you can have servants, guards, and furniture. 

In Japan, we don't just put up dolls; we treat this as a blessing for having a daughter. we combine the display of the traditional dolls with festive dishes, such as Chirashizushi, which is a scattered sushi: 
Chirashizushi
Additionally, if we look closer into the picture above, we can see the three-tiered mochi that is green on the bottom, white in the middle, and pink on top. This is a traditional dish meant for prayers on a good marriage, and heathy fertility also known at the Hishi mochi. 
Children's Day is on May 5th with wishful prayers of happiness and health of all children. This is historically known as the festivals for boys, but was changed in 1948 to include all children. 

Koi no bori

In honor of the boys in the Kamarura period, when the samurai class took control, this day has been held to ward off evil spirits. 
The black carp (Magoi) represents the father, the red carp (Higoi) represents the mother, and the blue carp, which is usually the son, represents the child; the colorful carp represents all the other children. This emphasizes on family unity and togetherness. 
The history behind this is a Chinese legend of a carp swimming upstream and forming into a dragon, symbolizing strength, and success. By putting up the koi no bori, parents put these up in hope their children will grow up to be strong and successful.















References

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