Find out all about Torii gates below. These gates have a powerful meaning in Japanese temples and are steeped in spirituality.
Torii, meaning and myths
A torii is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance to or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred.
The presence of a torii at the entrance is often the easiest way to identify Shinto shrines, and a small torii icon represents them on Japanese road maps.
The first appearance of torii gates in Japan can be reliably traced back to at least the middle of the Heian period, as they are mentioned in a text written in 922. The oldest existing stone torii was built in the 12th century and belongs to a Hachiman Shrine in Yamagata Prefecture.
The oldest wooden torii is a ryobu torii at the Kubo Hachiman Shrine in Yamanashi Prefecture, built in 1535.
They are usually unpainted vermilion or painted with a black lintel. Inari shrines generally have many torii because those who have been successful in business often donate a torii to Inari, the kami of fertility and industry, in gratitude. Fushimi Inari-taisha in Kyoto has thousands of torii, each with the name of the donor.
1. Meaning and uses
The function of a torii is to mark the entrance to a sacred space. For this reason, the path leading to a Shinto shrine (sando) is almost always crossed by one or more torii, which are therefore the easiest way to distinguish a shrine from a Buddhist temple. If the sando passes under multiple torii, the outer ones are called ichi no torii.
The next ones, closer to the shrine, are usually called, in order, ni no torii and san no torii. Other torii can be found further away in the shrine to represent increasing levels of holiness as one approaches the inner shrine (honden), the core of the shrine. In addition, due to the strong relationship between Shinto shrines and the Japanese imperial family, a torii is also found in front of the tomb of each emperor.
Buddhism
However, whether torii existed in Japan before Buddhism or, conversely, arrived with it (see section below) is an open question. In the past, torii were also to be used at the entrance to Buddhist temples. Even today, a temple as prominent as the Shitenno-ji in Osaka, founded in 593 by Shotoku Taishi and the oldest Buddhist temple built in the world (and country), has a torii straddling one of its entrances.
(The original wooden torii was burned down in 1294 and later replaced by one made of stone.) Many Buddhist temples include one or more Shinto shrines dedicated to their guardian kami (“chinjusha”), and in that case a torii marks the entrance to the shrine. Benzaiten is a syncretic goddess derived from the Indian deity Sarasvati, who combines elements of both Shinto and Buddhism.
Japanese mountain hermits, Yamabushi, with a long tradition as powerful warriors endowed with supernatural powers, sometimes use a torii as their symbol.
The torii is also sometimes used as a symbol of Japan in non-religious contexts. For example, it is the symbol of the Marine Corps Security Force Regiment and the 187th Infantry Regiment, the 101st Airborne Division, and other US forces in Japan.
2. Origins
The origins of torii are unknown, and there are several different theories on the subject, none of which has gained universal acceptance. Because the use of symbolic gates is widespread in Asia, such structures can be found, for example, in India, China, Thailand, Korea, and in the villages of Nicobarese and Shompen; historians believe that they may be an imported tradition.
For example, they may have originated in India from the torana gates at the Sanchi monastery in central India. According to this theory, the torana was adopted by the founder of Shingon Buddhism, Kukai, who used it to demarcate the sacred space used for the homa ceremony.
The hypothesis arose in the 19th and 20th centuries due to similarities in structure and name between the two gates. Linguistic and historical objections have been raised, but no conclusion has yet been reached.
In Bangkok, Thailand, a Brahmin structure called Sao Ching Cha closely resembles a torii. Functionally, however, it is very different as it is used as a swing. During ceremonies, Brahmins swing, trying to grab a bag of coins placed on one of the pillars.
Other theories claim that torii may be related to the pailou of China. However, these structures can take on a wide variety of forms, only some of which actually resemble a torii. The same is true of the “hongsal-mun” of Korea. Unlike its Chinese counterpart, the design of the hongsal-mun does not vary much and is always painted red, with “arrows” located at the top of the structure (hence the name).
3. Proposed relatives of the torii.
There are several tentative etymologies for the word torii. According to one of them, the name derives from the term tori-iru (to pass through and enter).
Another hypothesis takes the name literally:
The gate would have originally been some kind of bird perch. This is based on the religious use of bird perches in Asia, such as the Korean sotdae, which are poles with one or more wooden birds resting on top.
Commonly found in groups at the entrance to villages alongside totems called jangseung, they are talismans that ward off evil spirits and bring good luck to the villagers. “Bird perches” similar in form and function to sotdae also exist in other shamanistic cultures in China, Mongolia, and Siberia.
Although they do not look like torii and serve a different function, these “bird perches” show how birds in various Asian cultures are believed to have magical or spiritual properties, and may therefore help explain the enigmatic literal meaning of the name torii (“bird perch”).
Polands believed to have supported wooden bird figures very similar to sotdae have been found alongside wooden birds, and some historians believe that they have somehow evolved into today’s torii. Interestingly, in Korea and Japan, individual poles represent deities (kami in the case of Japan) and hashira (poles) is the counter for Kami.
Finally, the possibility that torii are a Japanese invention cannot be ruled out. The first torii could have evolved into their current form through the following sequence of events:
4. The Shinmei Torii
Four posts were placed at the corners of a sacred area and connected with a rope, thus dividing the sacred from the mundane.
Then two taller posts were placed in the center of the most favorable direction to allow the priest to enter.
A rope was tied from one post to another to mark the boundary between the outside and the inside, the sacred and the mundane. This hypothetical stage corresponds to a type of torii in actual use, the so-called shime torii, an example of which can be seen in front of the Omiwa haiden shrine in Nara.
The rope was replaced by a lintel.
Because the gate was structurally weak, it was reinforced with a connecting beam, and what is now called shinmei torii or futabashira torii (two-pillar torii) was born. However, this theory does nothing to explain how the gates got their name.
The shinmei torii, whose structure matches the reconstruction by historians, consists of only four unmarked and unpainted logs: two vertical pillars (hashira) topped by a horizontal lintel (kasagi) and held together by a connecting bar (nuki). The pillars may have a slight inward slope called uchikorobi or just korobi. Their parts are always straight.
Shinmei family
The shinmei torii and its variants are characterized by straight upper lintels.
- Kashima torii: a shinmei torii with kusabi and a nuki protruding from the sides.
- Kasuga torii: a myōjin torii with straight lintels cut at a right angle.
- Hachiman torii: a kasuga torii, but the two lintels are slanted downward.
The shinmei torii, which gives the family its name, consists only of a lintel (kasagi) and two pillars (hashira) joined by a connecting beam (nuki). In its simplest form, the four elements are rounded and the pillars are not slanted. When the nuki has a rectangular cross-section, it is called Yasukuni torii, after the Yasukuni Jinja in Tokyo. It is believed to be the oldest style of torii.
5. Ise torii
These gates are found only at the Inner Shrine and Outer Shrine of the Ise Shrine in Mie Prefecture. For this reason, they are also called Jingu torii, from Jingu, the official Japanese name for Ise Grand Shrine.
There are two variants. The most common is extremely similar to a shinmei torii; however, its pillars are slightly inclined inward and its nuki is held in place by wedges (kusabi).
The kasagi is pentagonal in section (see illustration in the gallery below). The ends of the kasagi are slightly thicker, giving the impression of an upward slope. All of these torii were built after the 14th century.
The second type is similar to the first, but also has a secondary rectangular lintel (shimaki) below the pentagonal kasagi.
This and the shinmei torii style became more popular in the early 20th century during the State Shinto era because they were considered the oldest and most prestigious.
6. Kasuga torii
The style takes its name from Kasuga Taishas, Ichi-no-Torii, or main Torii. The pillars are slanted and slightly conical. The nuki protrudes and is held in place by kusabi driven in on both sides.
This torii was the first to be painted vermilion and adopt a shimaki at Kasuga Taisha, the shrine from which it takes its name.
7. Hachiman torii
Almost identical to a kasuga torii, but with the two upper lintels slanted, the Hachiman torii first appeared during the Heian period. The name comes from the fact that this type of torii is often used at Hachiman shrines.
