Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 2.15
Sacred Island (Kudakajima) from Sangui
2.2.2
Religious Sense of the Japanese People
The landscape of sacred places is closely related to the fudo that nurtured them; land-
scape can therefore be used to identify the religious sensibility of the Japanese people.
The entrances to the divine areas incorporate symbols that indicate the border between
the sacred and secular worlds. Figure 2.16 depicts the Otorii (large gate) of the Naiku
(Inner Sacred place) of the Ise Shrine, which was built at Ujibashi over the Isuzu River.
Torii represent “gates” to the sacred area of a shrine, and typically, the approaches to
shrines will have one or more Torii , as well as rivers crossed by arched bridges that
border the sacred area, separating and bridging the sacred and the profane.
The front of a sacred space has a supply of water for use in purifi cation rites. Its
purpose is to remove and purify any sins and uncleanliness from the body. It is actu-
ally quite diffi cult to follow an authentic purifi cation ceremony, but it is common for
many to purify their hands and mouths at a temizuya (small roofed building for
washing your hands) before worshiping at the shrine. Purifying the body via sym-
bolic acts such as rituals, chants, and a heihaku (offering of cloth) ceremony is also
necessary before approaching a sacred area.
The ideas of purity and impurity are particularly important in the religious sensi-
bility of the Japanese people. Purity is understood to relate not only to the divine but
also to that which is valuable and desirable in worldly life. Desirability denotes an
abundance of vitality. Conversely, the notion of impurity corresponds to curses,
sickness, disasters, and uncleanliness, or a decline in spiritual vitality. The religious
sensibility of respecting “purity” while avoiding “impurity” is therefore refl ected in
the landscape of sacred places where Gods are considered to be present.
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