{"id":4345,"date":"2024-03-25T21:52:19","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T21:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kaminomichi.com\/shinto-symbols\/"},"modified":"2025-07-21T15:22:35","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T15:22:35","slug":"shinto-symbols","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/kaminomichi.com\/en\/shinto-symbols\/","title":{"rendered":"Shinto symbols"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Torii<\/h3>\n

Perhaps the most recognizable\u00a0symbols of Shintoism are the majestic gates that mark the entrance to Shinto shrines. Made of wood or stone, the two-post gateways\u00a0are known as \u201ctorii\u201d and show the boundaries in which a kami\u00a0lives. The act of passing through a torii is seen as a form of purification, which is very important when visiting a shrine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Japan, the color red is representative of the sun and life,\u00a0and it is also said to ward off bad omens and disasters. Once again, by passing through these (mostly) red gates, visitors are cleansed of any bad energy, ensuring that only good energy will be brought\u00a0to the Kami that resides inside.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are a variety of torii made of unlacquered wood, stone (usually white or grey in color),\u00a0and even metal. While there are a great number of color variations, there is an even greater number of shapes (somewhere around 60 varieties). The\u00a0two most common kinds, however, are \u201cmyojin\u201d and \u201cshinmei\u201d torii.\u00a0Myojin torii are curved upwards at their ends and have a crossbeam that extends past the posts.\u00a0Shinmei torii, however, have a straight top and a crossbeam that ends at each post.<\/p>\n

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Shimenawa<\/h3>\n

Shimenawa are ropes often adorned with white zig-zag-shaped pieces and natural tassels.\u00a0They are often seen hanging from toriis, wrapped around sacred trees and rocks or\u00a0even fastened around the waist of\u00a0some sumo wrestlers. These special trees, rocks, and \u201cyokozuna\u201d (sumo grand champs)\u00a0are known as \u201cyorishiro,\u201d meaning something that attracts gods or has a god\u00a0living within. They are typically used to mark the boundaries of sacred space and are said to ward off evil spirits.<\/p>\n

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Shide<\/h3>\n

The zig-zag white papers, often hanging from the aforementioned shimenawa. These\u00a0items are often used to\u00a0demarcate\u00a0the boundaries of a sacred space or border within the shrine. The lightning-shaped decorations are called \u201cshide\u201d (pronounced \u201cshe-day\u201d) and are also used in a variety of purification ceremonies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are two theories behind why\u00a0shide have their lightning shape. One claims that the shape is\u00a0representative of the infinite power of the gods, and another suggests that as rain, clouds, and lightning are elements of a good harvest, lightning-shaped shide are a prayer to the gods for a\u00a0bountiful season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are a variety of different shide-adorned wands used in Shinto, with subtle differences between them in terms of style. Two of these wands are called \u201cgohei\u201d and \u201charaegushi.\u201d Shrine maidens called \u201cmiko\u201d use the gohei wand with two shide attached in rituals and ceremonies to bless people, but the main purpose of the wand is to bless objects or cleanse sacred places\u00a0of negative energy. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The haraegushi wand with many shide attached is used for the same purpose of cleansing\u00a0but under different circumstances. A Shinto priest will rhythmically wave the haraegushi over a person or a person\u2019s newly obtained objects, such as a new house or car to perform this purification ritual.<\/p>\n

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Sakaki<\/h3>\n

As nature worship is a key element of Shintoism, trees play an important role. Certain types are considered sacred and are known as \u201cshinboku.\u201d\u00a0Not unlike torii, these trees, which surround a shrine, create a sacred fence inside of which is deemed a purified space. Although there are a few types of trees that are considered sacred, perhaps there is none more important than the sakaki, a flowering evergreen native to Japan. Sakaki trees are commonly found planted around shrines to act as a sacred fence, and a branch of sakaki is sometimes used as an offering to the gods. One of the reasons that sakaki trees are considered sacred in Shinto has to do with the fact that they are evergreens and therefore symbolic of immortality. Another\u00a0important reason\u00a0is tied to a legend in which a\u00a0sakaki tree was decorated in order to lure Amaterasu, the sun goddess, out of her hiding place inside a cave.<\/p>\n

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Tomoe<\/h3>\n

The swirling “tomoe” symbol may remind many of China\u2019s well-known yin-yang symbol.\u00a0However, the meaning and use are quite different. Tomoe, often translated as \u201ccomma,\u201d were commonly used in Japanese badges of authority called \u201cmon,\u201d\u00a0and as such\u00a0tomoe are associated with samurai.<\/p>\n

Tomoe can feature two, three, or\u00a0even four commas in their design. The three-comma “mitsu-domoe”, however, is the most commonly used in Shintoism and is said to represent the interaction of the three realms of existence:\u00a0heaven, earth, and the underworld.<\/p>\n

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Shinkyo<\/h3>\n

Shinkyo\u00a0or “god mirror” is a mystical object said to connect our world to the spirit realm. Shinkyo can be seen displayed at Shinto alters as an avatar of the kami, the idea being that the god will enter the mirror in order to interface with our\u00a0world. This belief goes all the way back to a\u00a0legend\u00a0involving the Japanese sun goddess, Amaterasu, who once went into hiding in a cave, thereby plunging\u00a0the world into darkness. In order to coax her out of the cave, numerous other gods gathered outside the cave\u00a0and threw a party. The gods hung\u00a0jewels\u00a0and a mirror from a sakaki tree in front of the cave to distract Amaterasu’s attention should she venture outside. Curious about the festive noises, Amaterasu peeked out of the cave and asked why the other gods were celebrating. In response, she was told that there was a goddess even more\u00a0beautiful than\u00a0herself outside the cave. Upon exiting the cave, she was greeted by the\u00a0mirror and her own\u00a0reflection, at which point, the other gods took the\u00a0opportunity to seal the cave shut with a shimenawa.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This same mirror was later given to Amaterasu’s grandson with the instructions to worship it\u00a0as if it were Amaterasu herself. In this way, one does not necessarily pray to a shinkyo, but rather to the god of that shrine for which the mirror\u00a0is acting as a physical avatar. The shinkyo is considered a “shintai,” or a physical stand-in that\u00a0the kami can inhabit in the human\u00a0realm.<\/p>\n

By the way, the cave described in the legend is actually a real place, now called the\u00a0Amanoyasugawara Shrine, in Miyazaki Prefecture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Torii Perhaps the most recognizable\u00a0symbols of Shintoism are the majestic gates that mark the entrance to Shinto shrines. Made of wood or stone, the two-post gateways\u00a0are known as \u201ctorii\u201d and show the boundaries in which a kami\u00a0lives. The act of passing through a torii is seen as a form of purification, which is very important<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4345","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","prodpage-style2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kaminomichi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kaminomichi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kaminomichi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaminomichi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaminomichi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4345"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kaminomichi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4349,"href":"https:\/\/kaminomichi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4345\/revisions\/4349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kaminomichi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}