This morning (March 6), Okada-sensei brought an interesting document into class: A stamp book from the Edo era for pilgrims on the way to Ise Jingu.
If you’ve been around sightseeing spots in Japan, you’ve probably noticed that many have stamps you can use if you want. The idea is that you can collect stamps to remember all the locations you’ve been to. Some people carry small empty books around and stamp them, and in some cases booklets for a number of sites that are somehow connected are available with specific places for each stamp. The stamp book shown here could be seen as a predecessor of that. However, it is not a mere memento.
Today (March 5) we went to 外宮 (Geku, “Outer Shrine”), the second major shrine of Ise Jingu. Geku is dedicated to 豊受大御神 (Toyouke-no-omikami), the goddess responsible for preparing food for Amaterasu-omikami, and of agriculture and food in general. All English sources I’ve seen until now emphasize the general part, but the Japanese around here usually mention the “food for Amaterasu-omikami” first. A dual-language brochure on Ise Jingu which we got on the first day actually switches the emphasis between Japanese and English text. 😉
The last sightseeing spot in Futami we went to yesterday (March 3) were the 夫婦岩 (Meotoiwa), or “Married Rocks”. These two rocks are the most famous part of 二見興玉神社 (Futami Okitama-jinja) shrine.
While the teachers and leaflets here say that the big stone is the husband and the small one the wife, a Japanese couple I visited the place with a few years ago had a (playful, not serious) fight over the attributions. Either way, the rocks are certainly popular with couples, and I saw many taking pictures together in front of them.
Yesterday, March 3, we went to 二見 (Futami) in the afternoon. Futami is a part of Ise directly on the seashore, and our first stop there was a place that directly depends on sea water: 御塩殿神社 (Mishiodono-jinja), which literally translates to “Shrine of the hall of the honored salt”. This shrine is responsible for making salt for sacrifices of food at Ise Jingu. The process starts in a special field near the shrine.
Every summer, half-circles of earth are created connected to the boards you can see in the photo above, and water from a ditch connected to the mouth of the Isuzugawa river poured into them. This part of the river is already affected by the tide, so at high tide sea water can flow into the ditch. The water then seeps out and dries under the summer sun, and the remaining salt is gathered back into the circles, creating an increasingly concentrated saline solution.
This solution is then carried to the main shrine, and boiled in the building on the left on the photo above, removing the water and leaving salt behind. All these steps are performed by people wearing traditional white garments using traditional tools, and framed by Shinto ceremonies. This salt making ceremony takes multiple days and is performed once a year.
Twice a year, in March and October, the salt gathered in summer is “packaged” in an equally traditional way: It is filled into pottery with a shape I can best describe as roughly triangular “bags”, and then baked. Each time, 100 such bags are prepared. Ise Jingu has facilities for producing other kinds of food as well, and all the food used in ceremonies comes from its own lands.
From the shrine, we took a walk along the shore to our next destination, which was a Hina-matsuri doll exhibit I’ve already mentioned.
Today, March 3, is the day of ひな祭り (Hina-matsuri, doll festival) in Japan. Families with daughters traditionally display dolls depicting a Heian era imperial court. In traditional belief, doing so is considered a prayer for the daughter’s general safety, health, and a good marriage. During the visit at the Itsukinomiya Hall for Historical Experience on Saturday we could see doll display from various eras:
After dinner (about two hours ago) I was talking with a prospective Shinto priestess, and she explained something that I had been wondering about: their chants at lunch.
On most days, we have lunch in the Kogakkan University cafeteria. At the time we usually we arrive, the staff is setting tables in a certain part of the room — all with identical dishes, while everyone else (including us) goes to the counter to order their food. A little after, students and teachers from the Shinto School arrive in their traditional white garments, and sit down at the prepared tables. Before eating, they do some kind of chant, and after eating another, although I rarely heard the latter one, because with the timing of our classes we usually leave before they’re done. I had guessed that these chants are some kind of Shinto equivalent of saying grace, but that was about it. This evening, however, I got an explanation.
Both chants are indeed expressions of thanks for the food. The one before eating is to Amaterasu-omikami, the sun goddess worshiped at Naiku. The chant after eating is to Toyouke-no-omikami, the goddess responsible for preparing food for Amaterasu-omikami and of agriculture and food in general. All English sources I’ve seen until now emphasize the general part, but the Japanese around here usually mention the “food for Amaterasu-omikami” first. Either way, Toyouke-no-omikami is worshiped at the Geku (the second major shrine of Ise Jingu), which we’re scheduled to visit the day after tomorrow.
The prospective priestess I talked to also mentioned something about their table customs that I hadn’t noticed: They don’t talk while eating. If I understood her explanation correctly, the purpose of that is to not distract each other from the food, out of respect for the deities who gave it.
Yesterday morning (Saturday, March 1) we took a trip to Ise’s 斎宮歴史博物 (“Saiku Rekishi Hakubutsukan”, Saiku Historical Museum). The 斎宮 (Saiku) was the palace of the 斎王 (Saio). Starting from the late 7th century, a Saio was a princess sent to Ise to serve at the Ise Jingu, and represent the emperor there. I suppose she could be seen as some kind of envoy to Amaterasu-omikami, who is seen as the ancestral deity of the imperial family, and to the shrine in general. After this tradition ended in the 14th century, the Saiku fell out of use and decayed. Excavations officially started in 1970, and now the museum stands on top of part of the former Saiku area.
Reconstruction of a litter the Saio used to travel from Kyoto to Ise
After I mentioned that there’s a train line behind the dorm, a friend who’s son loves trains asked me to send pictures. With this post, I finally get around to that: This is the Ise-Shima Liner approaching 五十鈴川駅 (Isuzugawa Station), the dorm can be seen on the right. While I’m at it, here’s also a photo of a train I saw today while visiting いつきのみや歴史体験館 (“Itsukinomiya Hall for Historical Experience”), which I’ll write about later. If you have something you’d like to hear about regarding Ise and Japan, please ask! I can’t guarantee anything, but I’ll try to answer questions.
Today (Friday, February 28) I had the honor of participating in a tea ceremony held for the “Ise and Japan” study program. After lunch break, our group went to the Kogakkan University Memorial Hall, where the university’s tea room is located. Before the actual ceremony, the professor who leads the tea ceremony club gave us a long explanation about the history of tea. One thing I think is particularly interesting is the linguistic origin of the words for tea: Apparently, the words for tea in most languages can be traced back to one of two Chinese dialects. If the culture in question was introduced to tea predominantly through the Kanton area like Japan, the word sounds similar to “cha”. If tea was introduced from Fujian, however, the word generally sounds similar to the English “tea”.
We were also shown the equipment for the ceremony. Above is a box for the special kind of tea used in the ceremony, which is decorated with a design related to Geku, the second major shrine of Ise Jingu, which we’ll visit next week. The water container below shows 宇治橋 (Ujibashi), the bridge at the entrance to Naiku.
The ceremony itself took place in the tea room we saw during the campus tour (the one in the back, of course without chairs in front of the entrance 😛 ).
The ceremony itself is a very well organized thing with precise rules. We were told when to bow (guests and host bow to each other when anything is served, but you also bow to your neighbors at a certain points), how to correctly hold the cup and so on. Members of the Kogakkan University tea club took care of preparing and serving the tea, most of them in traditional garments. The ladies in their kimonos were quite a sight.
Before the tea, guests at a tea ceremony receive sweets. We got 春告草 (Harutsugegusa) made from 伊勢芋 (Ise imo), a local type of potato, making it another local specialty. Aside from being an element of hospitality, the sweets are also supposed to provide a contrasting taste to the slightly bitter tea.
After drinking the tea, you’re supposed to take a close look at the cup in a semi-ritualized manner. As the girl sitting next to me put it: “It’s supposed to say something like ‘Thank you for giving me such a nice cup!'” And if you’re wondering why I don’t have any pictures from during the ceremony… You try taking photos while holding a tea cup and trying to remember a bunch of rules concerning where to put it and how to turn it at what time! 😉 It’s simply not possible without disturbing the ceremony.
Rain kind of put a damper on our visit to 朝熊山 (Asamayama) this afternoon (Thursday, February 27), but I nonetheless have many interesting things to write about, mainly related to the connection between Shinto and Buddhism in Japan. The rain had one advantage, though: It made everything look rather mysterious. 😉
The building above is a part of 金剛証寺 (Kongoushouji temple), which sits on top of the mountain. The people from Kogakkan University had somehow arranged the opportunity for us to enter the main temple hall, which visitors usually can only see through lattice windows, and see the artifacts in there up close. Surprisingly (well, the topic already came up in the lecture this morning), there are statues of Amaterasu-omikami on the main altar and a shrine dedicated to her directly behind it. Isn’t Amaterasu-omikami the Shinto sun goddess worshiped at Naiku? Why would she be in the center of worship at a Buddhist temple?
Statue of 天照大神 (Amaterasu-omikami) in the 金剛証寺 (Kongoushouji) temple museum
As it turns out, Shinto and Buddhism quickly started to mix as Buddhism became established in Japan in the 6th century A.D. You can find torii (the traditional Shinto shrine gates) at temples, even Shinto shrines on Buddhist temple grounds, and until the Meiji era there was a widespread belief that kami (Shinto deities) were manifestations of Buddhist deities specifically for Japan (本地垂迹/”Honji Suijaku“, thanks to @BrowncoatPony for the hint!). Buddhist influences on Shinto existed as well, but much of that was forcefully removed in the Meiji era, when Shinto became the state religion of Japan. This especially affected Ise as the home of the highest Shinto sanctuary, leading to closing of many temples in the area.
Although Shinto traditionally avoided dealing with death and burials were usually Buddhist ceremonies, the Meiji government even introduced Shinto burial rites to avoid depending on Buddhism. Ironically, today burials in this style are often conducted at Buddhist temples…
The wooden poles are 卒塔婆 (sotouba), which are put up for the deceased to pray for a favorable reincarnation, as the professor put it in this morning’s lecture. Relatives or friends commonly place small offerings (we saw quite a few hats and drinks) at the 卒塔婆. They also vary in size depending on what one is willing to pay when having one placed, with some more than seven meters high.
To close this post, see this photo of the temple pond in the rain.
Either way, the rocks are certainly popular with couples, and I saw many taking pictures together in front of them.
Tower of Air 