Refurbishing Jinja

Many jinja are centuries old, and it is not uncommon for them to date back more than a thousand years. Obviously, the structures in the precincts do not last that long without some sort of intervention, either repair or rebuilding. Sometimes jinja do this after a disaster destroys or badly damages the existing buildings, while others do it on a significant anniversary when the need for repairs has become pressing. A few jinja, mainly larger and wealthier ones, do it on a regular cycle, often of around twenty years. Whatever the occasion for a particular refurbishment, it is a major event for the jinja concerned, and it is not uncommon for Jinja Shinpō to report on the final result. Larger jinja often get the whole of the back page, printed in colour so that everyone can enjoy the new or refurbished buildings.

The November 11^th issue had such a back page, but it was for a jinja that appears much smaller than the ones that are normally featured there. The jinja is Kaibara Hachimangū, in Tanba, Hyōgo Prefecture. The reason for the full-page treatment seems to be that the current buildings for the main sanctuaries were originally built in the late sixteenth century by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the second of the three warlords who reunified Japan after a century of chaotic warfare.

The refurbishments were carried out to mark the one thousandth anniversary of the foundation of the jinja, and the process started three years ago. The first thing they did was to change the jinja’s name. Since the late nineteenth century, the jinja had been called “Hachiman Jinja”, but they legally changed its name to “Kaibara Hachimangū”. This is what it was called during the Edo period, before the time of State Shinto.

The second thing they did was restore one of the subsidiary jinja, Yakuyokë Jinja (probably — that is the normal reading of the kanji). This jinja is the heart of a purification matsuri, the Yakuyokë Taisai, that is held every February, and according to the article this matsuri preserves some ancient features that survive in few other places. The sanctuary was not only repaired, it was repainted in bright colours, following the model of pictures preserved from the Edo period. (The current sanctuary buildings postdate the pictures, so they are not pictures of this structure. However, they are still taken to be a model for what it should look like.)

When the main sanctuaries were being repaired, the jinja also conducted a survey, which showed that these buildings had also been brightly painted in the Edo period. A university team analysed the traces on the surface to determine what pigments were used, and made detailed records of the carvings. The hope is that the jinja will be able to afford to repaint the next time they make major repairs. The main sanctuaries are National Important Cultural Properties, which means that they cannot be changed — but they can be restored. Hence the need for the detailed research.

The jinja also replaced one of its torii, and repaved the main sacred path. The photograph shows that this is now a flight of shallow steps, and apparently it was quite dangerous before the repairs.

And, of course, the jinja replaced the stone pillar with the name of the jinja carved on it. That was rather necessary.

While the sanctuaries are being repaired, the kami have to be moved out, and there are special ceremonies for this. These ceremonies are almost always conducted at night, normally shortly after sunset. At Kaibara Hachimangū, the kami from Yakuyokë Jinja were moved into a three-storey pagoda in the precincts. This is a rather unusual survival of the forced separation of Shinto and Buddhism. The kami from the main sanctuaries were also moved there when work started, but the work on Yakuyokë Jinja was finished first, and when the kami of that jinja were moved back, the kami of the main sanctuaries were also moved to Yakuyokë Jinja.

I have not come across this sort of multiple movement before, and the standard structure for the ceremonies assumes that the kami will be moved out once, and back once. There isn’t a standard ceremony for moving them from one temporary sanctuary to another. The article does not say why the priests thought that they should do this, and I am intrigued.

These sorts of projects are an essential part of keeping jinja, and Shinto, going into the future, so it is good to see them going ahead.