Ise Jingu and the Mirror of Mystery
Sunday, August 27
On Sunday, we decided to visit the main attraction in Ise...the Ise Grand Shrine. Also known as Ise Jingu. The shrine actually consists of two parts, Naiku, the inner shrine (which we visited) and Geku, the outer shrine. At Naiku the main shrine is rebuilt every 20 years out of new materials. It is an exceptionally fascinating tradition that has been carried out for the past 1,300 years! They build the shrine on an alternate site beside the old one, purify everything, move everything from one shrine to the other and then deconstruct the old shrine, using its parts to maintain other shinto shrines. If you're interested in reading up on Ise Jingu you should check out: http://www.isejingu.or.jp/english/index.htm
At the entrance of the site there is a large tori, pictured below. It's hard to describe, but passing through the tori and crossing over the pure waters of the Isuzu River instantly calms you.
Here is the entrance to the Naiku site of Ise Jingu.
The calm holy waters of the Isuzu River.
Visiting Ise Jingu is a process of sorts. It's not simply a tourist attraction. Visitors and Shinto worshippers alike take part in rituals along the route to the main shrine. First, visitors cleanse themselves at small pools of pure water. First you wash your left hand, then your right hand, then your left hand once more. I'm not too sure why. Everytime that I ask a Japanese person a question like this, they look at me as though I'm insane and reply, "that is the way it is." I am slowly learning to moderate my Western inquisitiveness. In Japan there is often no reason or explanation aside from tradition.
Next, visitors stop at the bank of the Isuzu River to wash their feet. As far as I know there is no real process here. I watched as we sat on the river bank and it appeared to me that people would simply sit down by the river, talk quietly with one another for a little while and then they would continue on to the shrine. Perhaps stopping by the river does more for cleansing and relaxing the mind than it does for the body. Here's Katie soaking her feet while I photographed pretty much everything around me...
After a short walk through the sacred forests of Jingu we arrived at the Ise Grand Shrine. It's quite peaceful and mysterious. After the point depicted below cameras are not allowed...so unfortunately I could not take you with me.
Just beyond the tori there is a small area for prayer and just to the left is an area where visitors can speak with Shinto monks. The monk who was sitting in the small house was clothed in full ceremonial garb, he was perhaps the most peaceful looking person I have ever seen. It made me wish that I could speak Japanese, I would have loved to ask him about his experiences and beliefs. Instead, I merely smiled and bowed to him...maybe when my Japanese gets better I will return to the shrine and speak with some of the monks. To the right of the small house there was a path that led to the shrine itself. Only the Imperial family and the Prime Minister of Japan are permitted past this point. The Emperor and his wife are the only people in Japan who are actually permitted inside of Ise Jingu...the Prime Minister is only permitted as far as the entrance gate to the shrine. A tall fence surrounds the shrine, so visitors can only see the golden buttresses of the shrine's roof. Here is a photo of the shrine's roof, courtesy of the Ise Jingu website.
While we were admiring the (limited) sight of the shrine and the revent atmosphere a security guard approached us and began telling us about the shrine. (Random side story - The guard's name was Kuni. He spoke Enlgish because he spent a year studying in Winnipeg?!?!? The week following our meeting Pam, Katie and I had dinner with him and a bunch of his friends) Apparently Ise Jingu houses one of Japan's national treasures, a sacred mirror (Yata-no-Kagami), which was a gift from the sun goddess, Amaterasu Omikami. The mirror is inside of a box and no one is permitted to open the box...who knows, maybe there isn't even a mirror inside of the box...for all that anyone knows there are a few rocks for weight and an IOU for "one sacred mirror." But, the Japanese people have very deep faith and an affection for mystery, so all that truly matters is the history and tradition of Ise Jingu. Maybe one day I will learn to censor my inquisitiveness so that I can appreciate some of the lesser understood phenomena of life...but that day appears to be a long way off. For now I can merely scratch my head and respect the beliefs and cultures of other people.
On Sunday, we decided to visit the main attraction in Ise...the Ise Grand Shrine. Also known as Ise Jingu. The shrine actually consists of two parts, Naiku, the inner shrine (which we visited) and Geku, the outer shrine. At Naiku the main shrine is rebuilt every 20 years out of new materials. It is an exceptionally fascinating tradition that has been carried out for the past 1,300 years! They build the shrine on an alternate site beside the old one, purify everything, move everything from one shrine to the other and then deconstruct the old shrine, using its parts to maintain other shinto shrines. If you're interested in reading up on Ise Jingu you should check out: http://www.isejingu.or.jp/english/index.htm
At the entrance of the site there is a large tori, pictured below. It's hard to describe, but passing through the tori and crossing over the pure waters of the Isuzu River instantly calms you.
Here is the entrance to the Naiku site of Ise Jingu.
The calm holy waters of the Isuzu River.
Visiting Ise Jingu is a process of sorts. It's not simply a tourist attraction. Visitors and Shinto worshippers alike take part in rituals along the route to the main shrine. First, visitors cleanse themselves at small pools of pure water. First you wash your left hand, then your right hand, then your left hand once more. I'm not too sure why. Everytime that I ask a Japanese person a question like this, they look at me as though I'm insane and reply, "that is the way it is." I am slowly learning to moderate my Western inquisitiveness. In Japan there is often no reason or explanation aside from tradition.
Next, visitors stop at the bank of the Isuzu River to wash their feet. As far as I know there is no real process here. I watched as we sat on the river bank and it appeared to me that people would simply sit down by the river, talk quietly with one another for a little while and then they would continue on to the shrine. Perhaps stopping by the river does more for cleansing and relaxing the mind than it does for the body. Here's Katie soaking her feet while I photographed pretty much everything around me...
After a short walk through the sacred forests of Jingu we arrived at the Ise Grand Shrine. It's quite peaceful and mysterious. After the point depicted below cameras are not allowed...so unfortunately I could not take you with me.
Just beyond the tori there is a small area for prayer and just to the left is an area where visitors can speak with Shinto monks. The monk who was sitting in the small house was clothed in full ceremonial garb, he was perhaps the most peaceful looking person I have ever seen. It made me wish that I could speak Japanese, I would have loved to ask him about his experiences and beliefs. Instead, I merely smiled and bowed to him...maybe when my Japanese gets better I will return to the shrine and speak with some of the monks. To the right of the small house there was a path that led to the shrine itself. Only the Imperial family and the Prime Minister of Japan are permitted past this point. The Emperor and his wife are the only people in Japan who are actually permitted inside of Ise Jingu...the Prime Minister is only permitted as far as the entrance gate to the shrine. A tall fence surrounds the shrine, so visitors can only see the golden buttresses of the shrine's roof. Here is a photo of the shrine's roof, courtesy of the Ise Jingu website.
While we were admiring the (limited) sight of the shrine and the revent atmosphere a security guard approached us and began telling us about the shrine. (Random side story - The guard's name was Kuni. He spoke Enlgish because he spent a year studying in Winnipeg?!?!? The week following our meeting Pam, Katie and I had dinner with him and a bunch of his friends) Apparently Ise Jingu houses one of Japan's national treasures, a sacred mirror (Yata-no-Kagami), which was a gift from the sun goddess, Amaterasu Omikami. The mirror is inside of a box and no one is permitted to open the box...who knows, maybe there isn't even a mirror inside of the box...for all that anyone knows there are a few rocks for weight and an IOU for "one sacred mirror." But, the Japanese people have very deep faith and an affection for mystery, so all that truly matters is the history and tradition of Ise Jingu. Maybe one day I will learn to censor my inquisitiveness so that I can appreciate some of the lesser understood phenomena of life...but that day appears to be a long way off. For now I can merely scratch my head and respect the beliefs and cultures of other people.
posted by Christopher Janca at 1:03 a.m.
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