Shintō 神道

choi

Hiroka Yoda, The Priest of Japan's Forbidden Zone. Vice, June 21, 2022.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/ ... pans-forbidden-zone

Quote:

"'Let's begin,' says Nobuhiko Ise, beginning a rapid rhythm on a taiko 太鼓 drum. This is to call forth the kami [kanji 神 has Chinese pronunciations shin or jin, plus Japanese pronunciation kami], he tells me, to signal the start of a prayer ritual in Shinto [神道] * * * Tsushima Inari Jinja * * * is a wooden structure roughly the size of an American bungalow, framed in unpainted wood with white and crimson accents, topped by a gracefully angled roof of copper shingles tarnished warm green with age. A frayed shimenawa, the distinctive braided rope used to delineate Shinto holy spaces, hangs over the entryway. * * * euphemistically renamed the 'Difficult-to-return Zone [帰還困難区域].'


"By tradition, Shinto priesthoods are inherited [no celibacy required]. For 17 generations, some 800 years, Ise's bloodline has watched over Tsushima Inari Jinja and ministered to the villagers.


Note:
(a) Hiroko YODA  依田 寛子 (a photographer; Japanese verb yoru 依る means depend on, "(event A) turn on (event B)," or "to be due to, to be caused by."

She received a master's from American University in Washington, DC. Her own company is AltJapan Co, Ltd (2003- ; based in Tokyo).

(b) Tsushima Inari Jinja  (福島県双葉郡浪江町津島地区の) 津島稲荷神社
(i)
(A) 浪江町 nami-e-machi (all Japanese pronunciations for the three kanji)
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/浪江町
("町内東部の請戸漁港は、福島県の最東端にあたる [its 請戸漁港 is eastern-most part of 福島県]")
is the orange strip in the map, which, though, does not label anything.
(B) 津島地区 is mountainous.
(C) Kanji 津 has Chinese pronunciation shin and Japanese pronunciation tsu, both meaning harbor or port.  
Kanji 浦 has Chinese pronunciation ho and Japanese pronunciation ura, noth meaning bay or inlet.
(D) Why do 対馬島 in the midst of 対馬海峡 is pronounced Tsushima, or vice versa?

The ja.wikipedia.org for "対馬"島 says in section 2 history that 古事記 (compiled in 712) identified the island as 津島 and 日本書紀 (compiled in 720), as 対馬島 (both tomes were compiled in Japan's then capital Nara).

Meanwhile 魏志倭人伝, made up of 1989 words (or Chinese characters and being the earliest extant record on present-day Japan, according to zh.wikipedia.org) and part of 三国志 中の 魏書 (=魏志), stated that many nations comprised present-day Japan, one of which was 対馬国.  三国志 was written by 西晋の陳寿, apparently (for obvious reasons, see the next two events) between 280 (the year 西晋 conquered 呉) and 297 (the year 陳寿 died).
(ii)
(A) Inari shrine 稲荷神社
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inari_shrine
worship Inari 稲荷.
(B) In a nutshell, Inari is "God of Harvest" (per Jim Breen's online Japanese dictionary).
(C) The en.wikipedia.org remarks, "Inari has been depicted both as male and as female. The most popular representations of Inari, according to scholar Karen Ann Smyers, are a young female food goddess, an old man carrying rice, and an androgynous bodhisattva."  The same also says white fox 白狐 is Inari's messenger 神使 (both terms 白狐 and 神使 come from ja.wikipedia.org.
(iii) Nobuhiko ISE 井瀬 信彦 (kanji 彦 is the archaic word for boy; he has appeared in many a news reports in Japan) is 津島稲荷神社 官司.

Kanji 瀬 has two definitions: "shallows, shoal" or "rapids" of a river or near sea.


(c) "Tsushima Inari Jinja * * * is a wooden structure * * * framed in unpainted wood with white and crimson accents, topped by a gracefully angled roof of copper shingles tarnished warm green with age"
(i) Japanese Shrine Architecture. Encyclopedia of Japan, undated.
https://doyouknowjapan.com/architecture/shrine/

Quote:

"Characteristics of Japanese Shrine Architecture of 'Honden [本殿: main shrine]'
The following characteristics have been pointed out as features of Honden architecture:
1. Gabled roofs
2. Highly raised timbered floors
3. Absence of tile used for roofing
4. Absence of earthen walls
5. Simple and not decorative"

"A highly raised [timbered] floor presents a sharp contrast to doma [土間: dirt floor], or earthen floor, a basic element of Buddhist architecture [in Japan anyway].

"In principle, roofing material in shrine [in Japan, the term temple 寺 means Buddhist whereas shrine 神社 or 社, Shinto] is construction is wood (wood strip roofing or cedar bark roofing); later on, in the modern era, copper sheeting became a material of choice. * * * The roof is limited to thatch in most cases, but can also include shingle roofs and copper roofs. Shingle roofs are used in almost all of the sessha [摂社] (auxiliary shrines dedicated to a deity connected to that of the main shrine [本社]) * * * When Buddhism was brought to Japan and came to be practiced widely, [Buddhist[ temple buildings were called Kawara-yane (tiled roofs) [kawara-yane 瓦屋根 tiled roof; 屋根 = roof; 屋 ya; 根 ne = root]. For this reason tiled roofs are rarely used in shrine buildings.   Because less endurable thatch or shingles are used for the roof, the angle of the roof is made steep so that rain and snow falls down the roof more easily. It is also necessary to make the eaves longer, because a kirizuma [kirizuma 切妻 = gable; why, I do not know]-style roof is used. The top part of the roof is covered with [wooden] boards [atop thatch], and is reinforced with Katsuogi.

(ii) 瓦
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/瓦
(Japan's came from China)
in Japan means the same thing in China. But the West does not have 瓦, so there is no English word for it; rather 瓦 is translated as tile or shingle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shingle
(may refer to "Roof shingles or wall shingles, including: Wood shingle")
(iii) Japanese-English dictionary:
* katsuogi 鰹木; 堅魚木 【かつおぎ】 (n): "log on the roof of a shrine set perpendicular to the ridgepole"
   ^ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katsuogi
* shimenawa  しめ縄; 注連縄; 七五三縄; 標縄 【しめなわ】 (n): "{Shinto} rope used to cordon off consecrated areas or as a talisman against evil"
* ta-u-e 田植え(P); 田植 【たうえ】 (n): "rice planting"
   ^ u-eru 植える 【うえる】 (v): "to plant"
* odori 踊り 【おどり】 (n): "dance"


(d) shimenawa
(i) The shimenawa is defined right above.
(ii) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimenawa
("lit[erally]. 'enclosing rope' * * * Shimenawa vary in diameter from a few centimetres to several metres, and are often seen festooned with shide—traditional paper streamers")

See various photos at the bottom of this Wiki page.
(e) "In Tsushima’s annual Taue-odori, literally 'planting dance,' locals dressed in costumes evoking traditional farming outfits"
Japanese words are defined in (c)(iii) above.