Shinto Shrines and Buddhist Temples in Japanese Architecture

Introduction: Two Religions, One Culture

Shinto, the indigenous religion of Japan, emphasizes nature to a considerable degree — a distinguishing feature of the faith. Buddhism offers a far more cerebral and philosophical approach, as well as pathways for personal psychological development. Unlike Shinto, Buddhism is not indigenous to Japan; it is a foreign religion that simply became deeply entrenched there. In Japan, the two religions often fuse, and their temples are found in close proximity to one another. They are not considered mutually exclusive or conflicting; both are integral to Japanese identity, social norms, and culture.

Shinto Sacred Architecture and Design Principles

Shinto places of worship are often referred to as shrines, although that translation is somewhat limited — in English, a "shrine" can connote a ritualistic altar to a deceased person. Although Shinto does include ancestral worship as part of its core features, a Shinto shrine is simply a specific place deemed sacred space. To mark that space as sacred, several human constructions are placed, including the tori (gate), often painted orange. Often, there will be two pillars or statues topped with foxes, serving as symbolic guardians of the sacred space.

The architecture in both Shinto and Buddhism serves as a means to distinguish the sacred from the non-sacred, encouraging visitors to leave behind the cares and worries of daily life when entering the space. The most modest Shinto shrines include only a tori as well as special adornments for trees, to mark them as sacred spaces. Shinto shrines always abut nature, even when they happen to be located in a modern city that built up around them. More important Shinto shrines include elaborate architectural elements, including indoor spaces for worship. These tend to feature a few distinguishing elements, including a bell. The use of sound is important to both Buddhism and Shinto, with the former relying more heavily on chanting. Both Buddhist and Shinto places of worship may also have public ablution areas, where an individual worshipper may symbolically cleanse before conducting prayers.

Ikuta Jinja and Fushimi Inari: Shinto Shrines in Practice

In Kobe, Japan, there is a Shinto shrine called Ikuta Jinja, and in Kyoto, one called Fushimi Inari (Sakata, 2008). Each of these shrines is different, but they share in common the core elements of Shinto sacred architecture. Ikuta Jinja is a good example of Shinto architecture because it abuts a forested area within what is now a major metropolitan area. The location of the shrine predated the city of Kobe by many centuries, and the shrine now creates a natural sanctuary zone in the middle of the city. It serves as a means for city dwellers to reconnect with nature, revealing the link between Shinto and the natural world. The shrine contains water elements, showing the importance of natural materials — wood, stone, and water — to Shinto architectural design. A casual visitor might focus on the grandiose gateway and neglect the smaller details of the shrine that are actually more important for conveying the Shinto worldview. The grand tori is larger than those found at many Shinto shrines, as Ikuta Jinja has been well endowed with imperial funding over the centuries and has therefore become a signifier of the way politics and religion become entwined in all cultures.

In Ikuta Jinja's case, the main gateway is actually comprised of several smaller gateways that make up the whole. The stacked gateways grow wider at the top. This top-heavy feature is common in Shinto tori design, although many tori are simple wooden structures lacking such adornment. This tori appears as if it blossomed out of the ground — its narrower base like the stem of a flower, the umbrella-like top enveloping the layers beneath. As with the other architectural elements at Ikuta Jinja, the main gate is constructed of wood, as is typical of most Shinto shrines, because using natural materials is central to reflecting the core tenets of the faith. Cypress wood tends to be the most common, as it is indigenous to the region ("Shinto Shrines," 2009). The color orange, which contrasts sharply with the green of the natural surroundings, signals to the visitor that one is entering a sacred dimension — at once separate from but also integrated with the rest of the area.

Passing through the tori, visitors behold a series of other architectural elements and public spaces. A walkway guides the supplicant to the main shrine area, a building that is in some ways more humble than the tori but larger, with the capacity to hold visitors inside. The shrine's interior elements are, however, closed to the general public, reserved for priests or opened only on ceremonial occasions. Visitors instead stop at an open area under the awnings of the building on a porch-like part of the structure. The main hall is called a honden, the interior worship area the haiden, and the most sacred inner sanctum is called the heiden. Often the heiden is separated from the other two ("Shinto Shrines," 2009). The use of different, layered gateways shows how the religion takes care to carve out sacred spaces — and even sacred zones within sacred spaces — mirroring the hierarchies found in the natural world.

At Fushimi Inari, the concept of layered gateways is taken to an extreme: a pathway of approximately 10,000 tori gates, all painted orange, leads the visitor up the mountain. The strategic placement of the tori pathway underscores how important nature is to the Shinto religion, as the visitor is encouraged to walk through nature away from the worship hall, which at Fushimi Inari remains quite large.

Conclusion: Religion, Nature, and Japanese Identity

Japanese architecture and art cannot be considered without reference to Buddhism and Shintoism. Both Shintoism, the indigenous religion of Japan, and Buddhism, the adopted religion of Japan, have influenced Japanese thought, identity, culture, and ritual. Shintoism is a nature-oriented religion with no official doctrines or sacred texts. Buddhism, on the other hand, is replete with doctrine and scripture, and there are many different sects within the faith. While both Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines tend to be located in nature, Shinto shrines must be located in nature due to the fundamental nature orientation of the religion.

The senses play an important role when encountering both Shinto and Buddhist places of worship. The smell of incense fills the air and complements the scent from the trees surrounding the buildings. Sound also features strongly in both faiths: Buddhist chanting may be heard in a Buddhist temple, and the Shinto bell on a rope is often rung for worshippers, who also clap when they pray. Offerings can be made at either a Shinto shrine or a Buddhist temple, including fruit or small coins. Both traditions showcase the integration of religion into daily life, as well as the enduring human capacity to carve out sacred spaces within the world.