It sure seems that way, anyways. I don’t mean in any kind of spiritual sense, but in a very literal one. Approaching the gate, you are surrounded by nothing but white walls. The gate itself, while nice, is kind of dark and drab. It’s a very monotone environment. But then, you get closer and closer and closer; you look inside the gate and see all this color and light of the temple garden. You can’t help but feel a little like you are stepping into another world. It’s kind of neat. I’m sure they designed it to provoke this exact effect.
The name of this temple is zui’nenji (zoo-E-nehn-G). It’s located in downtown Okazaki. It was built by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1563. You may know him — he went on to take over all of Japan in 1603. I wrote about him briefly in this article.
The temple contains the tombstone of Ieyasu’s Great Aunt, Hisako. Hisako raised Ieyasu after he was separated from his mother. The temple overlooks the Tokaido Road, an ancient highway that connected Edo (home of the Shogun — present day Tokyo) and Kyoto (home of the Emperor).
By the way, see those stickers in the doorway of the gate? They are called senjafuda; travelers would stick them on temples they visited. Most temples have banned the practice today, but the stickers from past travelers remain. Read more about that.
Misc info
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You have just answered a question I had recently about those stickers on shrine buildings. Thank you. .-= kyushudan´s last blog ..Ishikaki Shrine =-.
Guess I should have included the name of those stickers… I’ll edit the post after writing this note. They are called Senjafuda. Moments ago I searched on a whim not expecting much and was surprised wikipedia has an article on them. Here you go: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senjafuda God bless wikipedia for it’s (mostly) accurate info on just about everything.
You have just answered a question I had recently about those stickers on shrine buildings. Thank you. .-= kyushudan´s last blog ..Ishikaki Shrine =-.
Guess I should have included the name of those stickers… I’ll edit the post after writing this note. They are called Senjafuda. Moments ago I searched on a whim not expecting much and was surprised wikipedia has an article on them. Here you go: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senjafuda God bless wikipedia for it’s (mostly) accurate info on just about everything.
Today’s picture looks like a 3D picture. When I stare at the gate, it makes me confused as if the gate even is moving to close or open. As for the Senshafuda, I wonder how they could paste the stickers on such a high place of the gate. Do they use a ladder?
According to wikipedia, they used their walking sticks. Crazy, huh?
Today’s picture looks like a 3D picture. When I stare at the gate, it makes me confused as if the gate even is moving to close or open. As for the Senshafuda, I wonder how they could paste the stickers on such a high place of the gate. Do they use a ladder?
According to wikipedia, they used their walking sticks. Crazy, huh?