Japanese tori arch. Kyoto: Thousand Scarlet Gate Fushimi Inari Taisha

Torii. The entrance to each temple, with the exception of small roadside temples, is marked with special gates - torii (there may be several). This gate symbolizes the border between the earthly mortal world and the spiritual world of the kami. There is controversial version, according to which torii were brought from the Asian continent. There is also a dubious interpretation of the word itself. By combining the hieroglyphs tori ("bird") and and ("to be"), it can be read as "bird perch". Alas, true value the words torii are forgotten, as well as their origin.

AT ancient japan torii were used as ordinary gates, but over time they became an attribute only of Shinto shrines, the imperial mausoleum and some cemeteries. Sometimes you can find torii near a tree, near a rock or a spring.

In 1884, a law was passed according to which torii could only be used by state temples and some shrines of Shinto sects. shusei and taisei. Now that this law is no longer in effect, torii can still be seen only near Shinto shrines, several shrines of the sects mentioned above, at the entrance to the imperial mausoleum and in front of some burials. If such a gate is located at the entrance to a Buddhist temple complex, which does not have a cemetery, then there is probably a Shinto shrine nearby, most often on the top of a small mountain.

In some temples, devout worshipers are encouraged to donate torii to the temple, and this is regarded as a special offering. They are often erected close together along the approach to the main or secondary sanctuary, so that they form an arcade. The temples of the rice god Inari are famous for such picturesque arcades, especially the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto.

Relatively rarely, torii are installed over a busy road. The most famous such gate is in front of the Heian Temple in Kyoto. Some temples, such as Tsurugaoka Hachiman in Kamakura, are reached by a road that starts far outside the temple complex, on which several torii have been erected. These symbolic gates remind people of the presence of kami among them and at one time were considered part of the temple complex.

Originally, torii were very simple in design. They consisted of unfinished wooden posts and two horizontal bars of certain proportions. Later, the pillars and crossbars began to be processed, but left unpainted. Then, under the influence chinese style, the beams began to be painted, and the design of the gate itself became more complicated until the appearance of such exquisitely decorated examples as the magnificent red-lacquered torii standing in the water in front of Itsukushima Shrine on the island of Miyajima.

Many Japanese traditions may seem eternal, because since the Middle Ages they have not changed much. Inhabitants of the country rising sun everyone is also careful about tea ceremonies, costumes, Japanese literature and theater. And the contemplation of flowering gardens and the full moon in the sky, despite the growing pace of life, has remained an important part of the life of the Japanese. All this has to do with belief in spiritual world and that there is some kind of connection with it.

Story

Today we will talk about one of these traditions, namely the installation of ritual gates - thorium. We boldly call torii ritual because their appearance in the architecture of Japan is associated with many myths and legends. One of these legends explains the meaning of the word torii: translated from Japanese, it means a perch, a nest. The story goes that, sitting on a high perch, a flock of birds (vociferous roosters) tried to lure the deity out of the cave. This deity was the incarnation of the Sun, and when it came out of the cave, light shone again in the world.

Let's talk in this article about what place the gate, in particular torii, occupied in the culture of the Japanese. And what types of gates can be distinguished.

As in many cultures, in Japan social status a person is determined by specific features. The fence in front of the house could tell a lot about what kind of family lives behind it. Up to the 19th century. only the Japanese aristocracy could afford such an architectural element as a gate. The nobility even arranged something like competitions on the streets of the city for their construction. And although now the gates in front of the house do not determine the social position so clearly, it is believed that they can still tell a lot about their owner.

Gates were also an obligatory architectural part of tea gardens. For tea ceremonies, houses were built, to which a garden with a gate and a path led.

Torii cannot be called a full-fledged fence, because they do not have wings and consist of only two, more often wooden, vertical pillars and several crossbars. Rather, it is a guideline. An invitation to enter. The Japanese consider them the border between two worlds. Not surprisingly, torii can be seen in front of the entrance to a Shinto shrine or cemetery. Sometimes they can be found near a tree, mountain or spring. Rarely over the road.

material for torii

Torii are constructed from precious wood (cryptomeria, camphor wood), traditionally painted red and painted with a discreet pattern or hieroglyphs. In our time, the material, of course, is more diverse. You can find torii made of bronze, granite, reinforced concrete. As in many other countries, believing sponsors allocate money for the construction of places of worship.

In Tokyo is famous alley from standing close thorium. They take a long road to the temple.

The most recognizable are the torii at Itsukushima Shrine. The gates were erected right in the water and from the side of the sea they invite you to enter the most important shrine of the country.

Stone torii are installed at the entrance to the temple in the city of Nagasaki. They miraculously survived the explosion of the atomic bomb.

It is clear that no one can forbid you to build torii in your garden (especially since it is not difficult to do it yourself), but do not forget that whole nation invest in this building symbolic meaning and sacred meaning.

Purpose of thorium

Torii have the same name as the temples they stand in front of. Torii are the most recognizable symbol modern Japan.

Every tourist who has visited this country must have at least one photo against the backdrop of these mysterious gates. You can also see them on family coats of arms and flags.

Of course, besides torii, the Japanese also install other gates near temples and shrines. These are full-fledged massive gates with wings and they can be locked at night. Some of them look amazing because they rest under the roof. Temple gates can be divided into two types.

Until the 19th century, Buddhist temples were located in Shinto temple complexes, and Buddhist rites were held. Elements of the cult were borrowed from each other, and the teachings were mixed. But after the Meiji Revolution of 1868-1889. issued a decree on the distinction between Shinto and Buddhism. This marked the beginning of new traditions. At this time, gates were built in the Shinto style without admixture of other religions. They have had simple design: unpainted beams under thatched, tiled, copper roofs. An example of such a gate can be found in the largest Shinto shrine, Meiji Jingu in Tokyo. The temple was built in honor of Emperor Meiji and his wife. And also at Yasukuni Shrine, Tokyo, which is the center of Shinto religious ceremonies.

Buddhism

The second type of gate is an impressive structure. These two-story gates are traditionally painted red or black and sumptuously decorated. The image is completed by sculptures on the sides of the gate. It can be paired guards - a lion, a dog, a deer. From vandals and harm, they are protected by a fence. The style of these gates was formed when Buddhist teachings dominated Japan. An example of such a gate is the Yomeimon gate. They amaze with their architectural and design ideas. Nearly 300 images of iconic Japanese animals, sages and all sorts of patterns bring the walls of the gate to life. They are rightfully considered the cultural and national heritage of Japan. The gate in front of the Yasaka Shrine is also worthy of special attention. In traditional red under an intricate roof (Japanese roofs began to be built over gates under the influence Chinese culture) they constantly attract many believers and tourists.

tea gardens

The Japanese decorate their gardens with gates of a simpler design. These are two pillars with a gate, plus a simple or gable roof (or without it). Literally for one century in Japan there was a tradition to break tea gardens. And the gates in them were placed with meaning. By tradition, guests were greeted either with ajar or wide open gates. After the last guest, the gate closed and the ceremony began. Interest in everything sacred made them believe that vanity and frailty remained there, beyond the garden and the gate separate the two worlds.

The Japanese are known for their love of harmony, so you won't find tall gates in small tea gardens.

The large gardens alternated paintings depicting certain historical events. Massive gates and gates are installed in them, separating one stage from another.

Torii today

But don't be deceived by the apparent simplicity of the Japanese gate design. A two-post gate with a crossbar without a roof easily turns into a simple partition if surrounding landscape not in the right style. If you are planning to plant a garden in Japanese style on your site, then avoid using different stylistic directions. Then the gate or some plot will not look ridiculous. We also advise you to pay attention to the material of the gate - traditionally it is wood. And the roof can be covered with copper, iron or small / large tiles.

Plant selection

And of course, if we are talking about the garden, we cannot but mention the plants. To create a Japanese touch in your garden, decorate your front gate with cold-resistant bamboo. Use ornamental plum, apple, and apricot varieties. Add bright colors with barberry and quince. In the Japanese style, the predominant colors are traced: red, green, white. It is important not to overdo it with variegation. Let the colors be natural. Japanese gardens are not lush, they should encourage solitude, peace. And, of course, stones. Fine gravel, crushed stone, rockeries, - stones in any form. In Japan, stones are considered the most perfect material.

In Japanese gardens, gates create a single image with arches and gazebos. This is achieved by the illusion that even objects created by humans are actually created by nature. But don't worry, it's actually not that hard of a task. Although Japanese gardens are quite exotic, their arrangement does not require large expenses. And gates, for example, made of bamboo will cost no more than installing ordinary ones.

In past notes, I talked about the modern symbols of Kyoto, and now I propose to take a look at the historical ones: the Rock Garden of the Ryoanji Temple - the Temple of the Calm Dragon, the Golden Temple (Pavilion) of Kinkakuji and the Fushimi Inari Shrine. These are the main locations in Kyoto and important places throughout Japan. Without visiting them, a trip to the Land of the Rising Sun does not count as karma, do not even hope.

To begin with, I will talk about Fushimi Inari Taisha - this amazing shrine of a thousand scarlet gates, collected in long tunnels ...

Fushimi Inari Shrine is famous as one of the most famous attractions not only in Kyoto, but also in Japan. This is the main temple of the Inari cult in the country, patronizing business and trade. Business card- tunnels from the red Torii gate, the hallmark of any Shinto shrine.

Shintoism is a complex of local beliefs of various types that has developed over the centuries under the influence of Buddhism:

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Shintoism singled out a sacred territory, which was designated by a similar gate - a portal. It is interesting that the word torii itself, perhaps, goes back to the Sanskrit torana - a gate, no less familiar to us: door, door ... Hieroglyphically, the word Torii is written as a “bird perch”, which leads us to the Shinto legend of the goddess Amaterasu, who hid in the grotto ... It is not customary to pass under this gate in the center, since this place of honor is intended for the gods:

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One of the important ceremonies before visiting any temple is the ritual bathing performed at a special spring or well/water tank. Often such a place is designed as a separate covered pavilion at the entrance:

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There is a certain sequence of ablution: first, water is collected with a special scoop, watered first left hand(it is associated with the divine principle in Shintoism), and then the earthly right, after which water is drawn into the palm and the mouth is rinsed (however, in many places the water in the source is not drinkable, therefore this part is omitted). In conclusion, the water remaining in the scoop is carefully poured onto itself along the handle to clean it. The scoop is placed in place upside down:

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There are 2 foxes in front of the central gate of the shrine. Foxes are one of the most mystical and popular characters Chinese and Japanese folklore, their divine nature is often mentioned in many Far Eastern fairy tales. In Japan, they are popular as messengers of the goddess of rice fertility - Inari. Therefore, in the temples dedicated to Inari you can meet a large number of foxes holding various sacred objects in their mouths: a wish-fulfilling pearl, ears of rice, keys to a rice barn, or a scroll with a Buddhist sutra:

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Pilgrimage to Shinto shrine has a clear ritual. Believers leave a donation in a special offertory - a wooden box with a grate on top, where they throw coins. The deities are then invoked by shaking ropes tied to bells suspended from a ledge. Then the person bows and claps his hands TWO times - the palms should be slightly shifted relative to each other - the left one is higher. It all ends with another bow. In Buddhist temples, they do not clap, but simply fold their palms evenly in prayer. Although it is not uncommon to see Japanese clapping in front of a Buddhist prayer house:

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Shinto has old tradition give the temple a white horse on which the deity could ride. Not every sanctuary can keep such horses, therefore images of horses often stand in symbolic stalls. In Fushimi Inari Taisha, a shrine that patronizes business and trade, a horse is a popular place where people stick their business cards with contacts and names through the cracks in the hope that they will be lucky:

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A long almost 5 km route along the mountain, connecting 5 main chapels, is accompanied by corridors-tunnels from the Torii gate. Each gate - someone's donations, ranging from largest corporations and ending with individuals. It is noteworthy that the first gate was supplied by Dentsu, the largest advertising agency in Japan:

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Tunnel 1000 torii:

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Best time for a pilgrimage here - deep night, when the mystical atmosphere of the place is not destroyed by crowds of scurrying tourists, it is quiet, and even a little scary. When you look straight ahead, you see only rows of red pillars:

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Donation gates have their own price list: from 5 to 10 number - the diameter of the support is from 15 to 30 cm, and the prices, respectively - conditionally remove two zeros and get dollars:

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In the shop you can buy more budget gates of a small size:

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Another remarkable detail of the Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine is the ema tablets in the form of fox faces. Everyone can draw a facial expression close to him and leave wishes without forgetting his return address and name. These tablets are called Ema - which literally translates as “picture with a horse”, the name says, those who could not give a horse, gave her picture. Later, instead of horses, they began to depict cyclic signs of animals of the year, or special local symbols:

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This is an example of tablets from another temple. Here they have the shape of a gourd gourd - a popular amulet of health and longevity, but in this temple they appeared for a different reason: 1000 golden pumpkins - this was the standard of the great Japanese ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who participated in the unification of the country at the end of the 16th century. In the temple dedicated to his memory, prayer tablets are in the shape of a pumpkin:

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Here the plates are classic look pentagon. They depict the animals of the year. It is the year of the horse:

This garland is nothing but a bunch of 1000 cranes. The crane is one of the symbols of longevity, and 1000 is a symbol of the multitude, making 1000 origami cranes is a long work, evidence of strong faith. Perhaps many will remember the Hiroshima tragedy and the story of the girl Sadako fighting leukemia, who made 1000 cranes out of candy wrappers:

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Thank you for your help in posting. chekaev

In the next post - Ryoanji Temple Rock Garden! Stay Tuned!

= Japan =

Verbatim from Japanese language this word is translated as the place of residence of a bird, a little less literally - a bird's roost. Why this is so, I do not know, but apparently this pair of pigeons is definitely in the know.

And when I undertook to write this post and, armed with a dictionary, found out the translation of the word into Russian, I quite clearly understood why, at the sight of me photographing pigeons sitting on the gate, five or six Japanese from those passing by (there was a crowd, some holiday) immediately grabbed their cameras and also began to shoot these birds. In general, torii is one of the symbols of modern Japan recognizable all over the world, and in my opinion it is also recognized as a red circle on a white background or sushi. Shintoism is the national Japanese religion, which is very deeply and closely connected with the customs, culture and, in general, the whole way of life of the Japanese, from ancient times to the present day. Each shrine is usually dedicated to a specific kami (神) deity, of which there are a great many. It is believed that kami may appear in front of the entrance to the temple or at the gate, and often these places are decorated with dense thick bundles of rice straw. At least one torii gate is located in front of the entrance to a Shinto shrine - a temple or an altar. Sometimes there are so many gates that looking at the very first torii it is difficult to see where the temple itself is located. But, if you start to pass through the gate, you can be sure that you will certainly bump into it. Gates can be found everywhere - in the city center, on its outskirts, in the forest, at the foot or on top of a mountain. Unimaginably huge, medium and even small garden gates leading to the personal altar of the owners. It seems to me that it is in Shinto that the roots of the exceptional superstition of the Japanese lie, the propensity for all sorts of rituals for money, luck, health, talismans, maneki neko, etc. Very often on the top of a rather high gate lies big number medium-sized stones - I don’t know how they are put there, but this is clearly one of the ways to remind the deity of yourself. I also read that in Japan it is customary for people who have completed some serious big business to donate a torii to a shrine. In general, most of the statues, pedestals and figurines on the territory of Japanese temples are placed in honor of the donors. Usually, somewhere below you can read the name and surname of the donor. At what for each subject there is a price. Donations start at about $500 and end with the price of a good apartment. Given the scale of the gate, I think the donation should be at least $50,000 (but I think more). I won’t describe what torii look like outwardly, but simply invite you to look at a series of photographs.


Original post.
UPD By urgent request mihairu :
The very origin of torii is closely connected with the mythological history of Japan.
One day, the god of wind and storm Susanoo raged and did a lot of disgrace, destroying the rice fields, desecrating the dwelling of his sister, the sun goddess Amaterasu. Insulted, Amaterasu took refuge in the heavenly cave, tightly shutting the door behind her. The world plunged into darkness. To lure Amaterasu out of hiding, the celestial deities tried many ways - they arranged dances at her doors, hung out various decorations at the entrance to the cave. The bet was also made on vociferous roosters, capable of awakening even a sleeping goddess. In front of the cave was built a high perch (jap. torii), which housed a flock of birds. As a result of many different tricks, the sun goddess was lured out of the cave, the light returned to the world again. But since then, torii have become an indispensable attribute of any temple dedicated to the Shinto gods - "kami".

The Japanese garden in the form in which it is known to the whole world is inextricably linked with a thousand-year-old spiritual culture. Japanese islands. Perhaps nothing reflects this unity better than traditional Japanese gates over the centuries, they play an important symbolic role and remain one of the main details of a classic Japanese garden (pictured).

The key to success in creating a Japanese-style garden is not to literally copy its individual elements, but to understand the meaning that the Japanese themselves put into every detail of the garden space, and the meaning of the overall composition.

Until the 19th century, gates, as an element of architecture, could only be afforded by representatives of Japanese nobility. In addition, the gate was an integral part of the tea gardens and played a significant role in the ceremony itself.

• The first covered threshold at the entrance to such a garden opened behind a covered gate that separated it from the outside world (photo above).
• Depending on the size of the garden, the guest had to go through several symbolic thresholds in the form of gates; this whole journey was poetically called "the path of tea".

Almost anyone who is familiar with the simplest carpentry can recreate the gate from the Japanese tea gardens of a century ago. The construction scheme of a Japanese gate with a roof is shown in the photo below.

Scheme - a drawing for the construction of a Japanese gate

The Japanese-style gate construction technology, which is simple at its core, requires the selection of stylistically correct materials for construction and decoration, such as massive tiles (pictured below).

The torii gate is one of the symbols of Japan (pictured below), their construction is quite fast - these are two wooden posts with two crossbars.

Initially, the wood for torii was not even painted or processed, later, under the influence of China, the tradition spread to cover them with red paint and hieroglyphs, and the wood was gradually replaced by stone.

Although torii gates are the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Japanese architecture, installing them as decorative element not worth it.

These gates have always had a sacred purpose, they draw a symbolic line between the spiritual and the earthly. Torii are installed only at the entrance to the temple or to the cemetery.

Types of Japanese-style garden gates

In modern Japan, even sacred gate torii are made of ordinary concrete, while the design does not lose its charm. Therefore, the choice of material is quite wide, but in order not to be mistaken, it is worth giving preference to natural materials.

Modern Japanese gardens still decorate gates, but with a simpler design:

• Hiramon or hirakado - a construction of two pillars and a roof;
• Kidamon - single-leaf gate-wicket without a roof;
• Kubikimon - a gate with a crossbar without a roof;
• Munamon is a construction with a gable roof on two pillars without struts.

All of these most common types of gate designs are shown in the photo below.

Most Japanese-style gates are simple in design and look great in modern lot designs, like the one in the photo below.

However, the simplicity of the gate design in the Japanese style is extremely deceptive.

A cubekimon gate without stylistic support from the surrounding landscape can easily turn into a garden partition, say, in the Mediterranean style. Therefore, maintaining stylistic unity here plays an extremely important role, otherwise the gate or other landscape element will look random, out of place and ridiculous.

In the design of the site in the Japanese style and in the construction of the gate in particular, not only the form is important, but also the material, it is he who clearly marks the belonging of the object to Japanese traditions.

The basis of the gate design in the Japanese style is wood. Traditional roofing materials for roofs: tes, copper, iron, tiles (both small and massive).

Support Japanese motifs in garden design and beat the gate today, you can use available plants. It is not necessary to plant sakura, red maple in an attempt to reproduce on the site imperial gardens the Edo period.

• In most garden centers, you can purchase frost-resistant varieties of bamboo that will perfectly complement Japanese-style gates that act as front doors.
• For the distant and medium plan of the garden, you can use flowering varieties of plums (Ussuri, Chinese willow, apricot), as well as decorative apple trees with different colors of flowers and many other plants suitable for your climate zone.
• Shrubs with lush color can be used as bright spots, for example: Japanese quince, weigela, action, euonymus and barberries.
• It is important to have one or two dominant colors in a Japanese garden, which can change throughout the seasons.
• Traditional combination: red and green and white and green. The abundance of variegated flowers here is in any case inappropriate. It is better to experiment with perennial shrubs of different shades, but within the same color range.
• Stones in any form are always appropriate in the Japanese garden. It can be a path strewn with fine gravel or rubble, a rockery, or even whole garden stones.

The color scheme of the buildings themselves, including the gates, should be as restrained and natural as possible. It is important to take into account that bright colors, if we talk about the Japanese style, they are mainly inherent in public places, places of worship, but not in private, classical gardens.