Shrines, Gods, and Foxes

Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples are scattered all throughout Japan, which the Japanese people visit at various times throughout the year. However, as we learned through our adventures today, because of its connection to the New Year, the month of January is considered an even luckier time to visit. This made visiting the two crowded shrines and one temple today...difficult to say the least.

The first Shinto shrine we visited today, the Namiyoke Inari Shrine, was not actually on our itinerary. Before we visited the Tsukiji fish market, our tour guide, Charlie-san, took us aside to a local shrine to be our meeting place before our next location. The fish market took less time than we expected, so we found ourselves with some spare time to look around the shrine. The architecture was beautiful, and we even got to learn some new things about Shinto tradition, one of which were the kitsune, or fox spirits. We found a small offering place in the back corner we were waiting in, with a handful of stone foxes with red bibs standing around it. The kitsune are seen as messengers of the gods, their shrine being called the Inari shrine, dedicated to the harvest. When we asked Charlie what the bibs were for, we were told that when a child dies prematurely, the mothers tie the baby's bib to the fox's statue. That way, the fox can get the child's scent and be able to find the child's soul in the underworld for the gods to go save.

All of this was very fascinating, but what really stood out to me at that shrine was something very personal that followed. Everything about the place just felt so peaceful. I saw the Japanese who were praying at the main shrine and saw all the things I'd learned about this semester at our research sessions and Religions of the World, and I knew I wanted to try. Isa and Shelby joined me, and together we followed the traditional procedure. We purified ourselves at the temizu by the entrance--a water basin with wooden ladles--by pouring water into our left hand and then our right. We stepped three times through a straw loop, left foot first, which is said to purify your mind (and as a side note, the left going first each time as it is believed to be less pure than the right), and we waited our turns to step up to the shrine. We each threw in a five yen coin to the offering...box, for lack of better word, shook a red rope which in turn rang a bell, which is said to call the kami, or gods', attention to you, bowed twice to show respect, then clapped twice, before each saying a prayer. Maybe it's bad luck to say, but I thanked the kami for letting us rest at its shrine, and wished that our group would have a fun, safe stay in Japan.

We also later visited the Senso-ji temple and Asakusa shrine, both of which were built right next to the other. Since Shinto is a very localized, native Japanese religion, when Buddhism first came to Japan, it was very easy for the two to coexist.

Senso-Ji Buddhist Temple (left) is less than 20 feet from the Torii gate marking the entrance to the Asakusa
Shinto Shrine (right). A path directly connects them so worshipers can easily visit both.

There were two gates outside of the Senso-ji temple, and both had two large statues standing on either side. The first were the statues of Raijin and Fujin, the gods of thunder and wind respectively. They stood on either side of the gate as protectors of the temple. The second gate had two "devil kings", one with its mouth open and the other with it closed. The open mouth symbolized the beginning of life, the first sound a baby makes, whereas the closed mouth symbolized the last sound a human makes, therefore symbolizing life and death. They also stood as protectors of the temple.

Other interesting bits of legend were the pair of massive sandals on the back of the second gate. Legend says that the purpose of these was that if an evil spirit ever crossed through the gate and looked behind, they would see the sandals and think that a giant stood guard inside, so they would be too afraid to enter.

Then we made our way into the temple, and found many Japanese Buddhists doing a similar procedure to the shrine, throwing in a coin to the offering box and bowing to pray (when we had free time later, both Isa and I returned to do this). The temple itself was as beautiful as we imagined, but what we hadn't expected were the beautiful murals on the ceiling. On the sides were two Buddhas, but in the middle was a dragon with a white orb in its claws. The dragon we learned was a messenger of the gods, like the foxes, and the orb represented the hopes of humanity. If the dragon had the orb in its claws, therefore, it was ascending into the heavens, whereas if it did not, it would be returning to earth.

Ceiling murals at Senso-Ji Buddhist Temple

Lastly, almost all of us returned to one of the many shop stands along the streets where good luck charms could be found. There, you could find your fortune for the year, by shaking a metal tin of sticks, choosing a stick with a given number written on it, and finding the corresponding box. I got a "Regular Fortune," and discovered that my wishes for the year are within my reach, so long as I continue to work towards them (paraphrased).

All in all though it was a wonderful day, and I look forward to what the rest of our trip holds.

-Brianna B. 2015