Daily 2021/2022

Combined Shinto shrine and Buddhist temple

Small temple with fall leaves in the garden of Jinguji Buddhist temple, sharing the grounds of Kamiichinomiya Oawa Shinto Shrine, Kamiyama, Japan, one of the few shrine-temples combinations still extant.

Some of you may have wondered what a Buddhist symbol, the Tridacna shell, was doing at a Shinto Shrine. The explanation is below.

In the Heian period (794 to 1185) when Buddhism began to diffuse throughout Japan, friction arose between the new beliefs and the ancient Japanese Shinto religion and out of this rose a syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism in which Shinto kami (gods) were considered to be the temporary forms of Buddhist deities. This led to the construction of Shinto shrines within Buddhist temples and vice versa. So Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, such as this rare example, used to be a single place of worship until Meiji era (1868-1912) when the emperor decided to separate them and Shinto became the official religion of Japan.

Shinto shrineBuddhist templeTridacna shellfallen leavesfall seasonsmall templerock gardenJinguji Buddhist templeKamiichinomiya Oawa shrineKamiyamaShikoku IslandJapan