Shinto Shrine Free Download
Shinto (神道), or “Kami no michi” meaning “The Way of the gods”, is the indigenous faith of Japanese people. Unlike other religions, Shinto has no founder and no sacred scriptures like the Bible, it is rather an integration of beliefs and ritual worship of Kami – the gods that are deeply rooted in Japanese culture through legends and myths for thousands of years.
In Shintoism, Kami are everywhere in the universe, including sacred objects in nature (the sun, moon, wind, thunder, mountains, rivers, trees) and spirits of the dead (the emperor’s ancestors, the ancestors of a family, the heroes of service to the country).
These sacred spirits, also known as Kami, are worshiped in Japanese Shinto shrines or Jinja (神社). They are also holy places to perform some of the important rituals throughout a Japanese person’s life, such as Hatsumode (the first prayer of the New Year), coming-of-age ceremony, or weddings.
Shinto is not only a religion for praying and worshiping gods, but it also influences traditional Japanese arts such as Japanese tea ceremony, calligraphy, flower arrangement, and more, done with the high-quality and spiritual values of the religion.
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The most recognizable symbol of Japanese Shinto shrines is the magnificent gate that stands as the entrance to the shrine, called Torii.
It is usually made of wood or stone and painted red. In Japanese culture, red symbolizes the sun and life, making it a color that helps keep the bad things away. When we pass through this gate, we are purified and cleansed of bad energies. This is to ensure only positive energies are brought into the place where the gods live.
Torii gates vary in both size and numbers, depending on the characteristics of the shrine itself.
A beautiful Torii gate sight for visitors to Japan is a World Cultural Heritage site – Itsukushima Shrine located in Hiroshima Prefecture. This is the first shrine to have a Torii gate floating in the middle of the water – an image usually seen in Japan’s travel blogs and videos. People usually come to visit Itsukushima Shrine in the summer, as this is the time when the tide level allows you to see the legendary red gate and the scenery around the shrine most clearly.
Some shrines have thousands of Torii gates, and the closer the gate is to the shrine building, the more sacred it is. Many Japanese people even donate money to make these gates. Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto is one of the famous shrines having a whole series of corridors made up of Torii gates, each of which is marked with the donor’s name.
Shimenawa and Shide
Shimenawa ropes are made of dried straw fibers woven together, making them extremely stiff and strong. These ropes are hung on the Torii gate or in front of some places of worship in the shrine. It is said that the origin of Shimenawa rope is related to the tale of the god Susanoo of Tottori, who instructed people to weave dried fibers into huge ropes and hang them on both sides of the road to ward off evil spirits.
You can also easily see Shide – sheets of white paper made in a zigzag shape hanging from Shimenawa ropes. It is said that Shide represent lightning – accompanied with the image of rain helping plants and trees to flourish, as people in the old times usually hung this to pray for a good harvest.
