jade and obsidian implements, fish, and asphalt. The latter was mixed with clay to make utensils and to decorate clay figurines. The Jōmon people also cultivated chestnuts and appear to have experimented with growing other crops. One of the most interesting findings is that there is considerable continuity between Jōmon and Yayoi architecture.
Reconstructed shrine from the northern enclosure at Yoshinogari. Like the elevated storehouses, the shrine was constructed on posts sunk in the ground. It also may have had some of the features of later Shinto shrines, such as verandas that encircled the interior space. The actual appearance of the building, however, is conjectural. For example, it is impossible to know whether it had two stories, as indicated in the reconstruction, or a single story, as in the case of later shrines such as those as Ise
Evidence Used in Reconstructions
Archaeologists working at the Yoshinogari Yayoi site in Kyushu.
Reconstructing what buildings may have looked like at Yoshinogari and other prehistoric sites involves educated guesswork based upon archaeological evidence, designs on bronze mirrors and bells, designs on earthenware pots, and clay models (haniwa) of buildings that have been found in concentric rings on the slopes of tomb mounds. Clues can also be obtained from contemporary ethnographic evidence such as Shinto shrines that have periodically been rebuilt over the centuries, the construction methods used in centuries-old farmhouses, temporary structures that were used until recently for a variety of purposes such as birthing, and architectural styles still found in other parts of Asia that supplied immigrants to Japan in prehistoric times. Piecing these various kinds of data together requires a high degree of teamwork.
legata haniwa (house-shaped clay model) found at the Saitobaru site in Miyazaki Prefecture.
Pot In the Osaka Pre-fectural Museum of Yayoi Culture, from the Karako site in Nara Prefecture, depicting a raised structure.
The Grand Shrines at Ise
The architectural significance of the Ise shrines is that they are an early example of some of the basic principles of architecture now considered to be typically Japanese, such as using thatch for roofing and exposed, unpainted wood for beams and walls, raising the structure on wooden posts, and adapting a building to the natural environment. Of the ancient shrines in Japan, Ise Jingū is the most important.
The main compound (viewed from the south) of the Naikū at Ise Jingū consists of a sanctuary and two treasure houses enclosed by a series of fences. Omitted in the drawing is a small covered annex that protects participants in ceremonies conducted outside the entrance to the sanctuary. To the west of the compound is another white graveled lot where the new Naikū will be located when the present structures are dismantled.
Shinto
The clan chief in prehistoric times was also the clan head of a religion that eventually came to be known as Shinto, the Way of the Gods. Shinto is based upon the belief that there is a divine power in nature (kami) that permeates everything but is more highly concentrated in some things, such as particular waterfalls, trees, animals, people, ancestral spirits, and even human artifacts. Often, Shinto shrines are located near natural phenomena, such as a sacred mountain, where there is an especially high concentration of divine power. The term kami also is used in reference to mythological deities such as Amaterasu-Ōmikami, the sun goddess, from whom the imperial line is said to be descended.
Detail of a picture scroll by Ikebe Gishō depicting a visit to Ise Jingō by the Emperor Taisho on November 14, 1916, four years after he ascended the throne. The procession is passing through the torii (Shinto arches) and thatched gateways to the main shrine compound.
Despite the abstract nature of kami, specific concentrations of power assume the characteristics of individual deities that can be offered domicile in shrine buildings dedicated to them. Thus, when individuals visit shrines, they pay respects to particular kami rather than to an abstract divine power.
Shinto ceremonies are organized around the concept of purification. Blood, death, and disease are highly polluting and must be cleansed if an individual is to communicate with the divine. Ceremonies can be as simple as washing one's hands and mouth at a water basin before praying at a shrine, or as complicated as participating in a full-scale ceremony conducted by a priest, replete with traditional music and dancing by shrine maidens.
Pre-Buddhist Shrines
The three main types of shrine architecture from the Pre-Buddhist period are the Taisha, Sumiyoshi, and Shimmei styles. The Taisha style is represented by Izumo Shrine in Shimane Prefecture. In prehistoric times, Izumo Shrine was situated on a high platform reached by a long flight of steps. According to records kept at the shrine, the original building was 96 meters high, which was later reduced to 48 meters, and eventually to 8 meters, because of the building's tendency to collapse without any apparent cause. Kan-ari Matsuri, a festival for all the Shinto gods in Japan, is celebrated annually at Izumo from October 11 through 17. Since there are no gods at the other shrines during this period, October is known as kannazuki (godless month) in the rest of Japan.
The Sumiyoshi style, represented by Sumiyoshi Shrine in the city of Osaka, consists of four gable-entrance structures overlooking the sea. The Grand Shrines at Ise, on the Kii Peninsula, Mie Prefecture, represent the Shimmei style.
The Setting at Ise
There are two shrine compounds, several kilometers apart, the inner or Naikū dedicated to the sun goddess, and the outer or Gekū dedicated to the goddess of food, Toyo-uke-Ōmikami.
Pre-Buddhist Izumo Taisha, 48 meters high, based on a model at Koyama Industrial High School, which relies on a painting kept at Izumo Shrine and on research by Fukuyama Toshio, an architectural historian.
Despite some minor differences, the styles of the Naikū and Gekū are almost identical. Collectively known as Ise Jingū, the shrines are situated in an ancient cedar forest. Although the main buildings of both the inner and outer shrines are separated from the world by a series of fences that bar most people from entering, the main features of the architecture can be seen in the numerous subsidiary buildings found throughout the two compounds. Basically, the buildings are derived from raised prehistoric rice storehouses that were gradually modified and refined into some of the world's most highly sophisticated structures.
Interior of a shrine at Takachiho in Kyushu where Ninigi-no-Mikoto, grandson of the sun goddess, is said to have descended to a nearby mountain. On the altar is a mirror representing one of the three symbols of divine authority (the other two being the sword and the jewel) received from the sun goddess herself.
The "Historical" Record
According to tradition, long ago, in the Age of the Gods, Ninigi-no-mikoto, grandson of the sun goddess Amaterasu-Ōmikami, was presented with a mirror by his grandmother and sent to rule over
