Day: June 1, 2017

I’ll start off with a quick translation, courtesy of Selinger-sensei’s friend Noto-san. 木(Ki) as you might guess from the idiom means “tree” and 森 (mori) means “forest” and is composed of three “tree” radicals. But, according to Noto-san, in the context of Shinto Shrines (神道神社; Shinto Jinja) and 鎮守の杜 (chinju no mori; forest of shrine), mori uses this kanji: 杜, combining the familiar “tree” radical (木) with the “earth” or “ground” radical (土) and implying “sacred ground.” Very interesting!

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We began the day with Shinto and Shinto Shrines 101, a discussion and lecture led by Noto-san. We learned about the basic principles of Shinto and how kami can be found everywhere. According to Motoori Norinaga (1730-1801), “whatever seemed strikingly impressive, possessed the quality of excellence and virtue, and inspired a feeling of awe was called kami.” Noto-san joked that Selinger-sensei’s skill in and dedication to language study for her might be worthy of being called kami. I’ll quickly run down the basic components of a Shinto Shrine:

1. Torii Gate (note, serious wordplay incoming: written as 鳥居, torii, using the kanji for “bird” and “stay,” it was originally written as 通り入る, tooriiru, using the kanji for “way” and “enter”…wordplay is wonderful)
2. Name of shrine on a stone pillar
3. Lanterns (とうろう)
4. Kagura Shinto Dance and Music Hall
5. Temizu Water Purification Place
6. Komainu Stone Guardian Dogs
7. Treasure House
8. Hall of Worship
9. Main Hall (Goshintai, or container for kami, enshrined)
10. Sacred Tree

After the discussion, we were in for a serious treat: we visited Meiji Jingu Shrine and witnessed a full Shinto ceremony service/ceremony. Although my feet may or may not have fallen asleep with major pins and needles, it was a really interesting experience. Many of the ritual actions are associated with purification and dispelling evil spirits, and there was even a Kagura dance as well. I, myself, am not particularly religious or spiritual, but even so it was definitely a cool, moving experience.

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So, you may be wondering (or not) at this point: “why the idiom for the title?” What might “mistaking the forest for the trees” (note to self: ask Aridome-sensei and Selinger-sensei how that might be translated into Japanese) have to do with Meiji Jingu Shrine? The simple, uninformative answer is that I am an ecologist and Meiji Jingu Shrine is surrounded by a forest. Let me explain: although was most certainly centered around the shrine and Shinto, I think probably the most fascinating and wonderful part of this whole trip is that each individual component can be approached from multiple angles, owing to our own individual interests. So for instance, I was absolutely fascinated to learn and talk about Meiji Shrine’s forest as an ecosystem with Tanaka-san, one of the forest caretakers. And evidently, Tanaka-san picked up on that enthusiasm and facination; our forest tour was originally only supposed to be a half hour, but was extended to an hour and a half as I just kept asking question after question. みんなさんごめん！でも、すごくおもしろかった！(Minna-san gomen! Demo, sugoku omoshirokatta! Apologies everyone, but it was extremely interesting!)

The Meiji Shrine Forest is actually not a “natural” forest but rather a manmade one. That is, in 1920, scientists planted a specific composition of conifers, evergreen broadleaf, and deciduous broadleaf trees imported from all over Japan and even overseas, knowing and projecting how that specific composition would change through ecological succession into the forest that it is today, 100 years later (i.e. stage 3 of 4 in the plan). The forest has largely been left untouched this entire time, even withstanding the Tokyo firebombings in WWII. And, as the canopy became more dense, the forest changed the microclimate of that area from a dry and barren to humid and cool. Even if it was “artificially planted,” I would argue that the forest, left to its own devices all these years, is most certainly a natural ecosystem.  Going back to the idiom, though, ecologists, I think, pride themselves on viewing the big picture, while at the same time focusing on the interactions and connections between organisms and their environment. So I think we at times mistake the forest for the trees and get lost in the details, but at other times we mistake the trees for the forest and take a broader picture. Speaking of the broader picture, these certainly are not my full and complete thoughts and notes from my discussion (translation courtesy of Selinger-sensei) with Tanaka-san; so, this entry is “mistaking the trees for the forest” and capturing the big ideas from the day. As I’m sure any of my peers or the sensei’s can attest, I was furiously scribbling down notes and observing the forest and asking Tanaka-san questions, so I think it’d be a shame not to document it, if people would be interested in reading.

Side note: I am writing this post early in the morning the next day because last night  I went to straight to bed due to a food induced coma…食べホ代はとても良かったです。ごちそうさまでした

Noto-san’s brief introductory lecture on shinto was easy to understand an extremely helpful for an outsider very much like ourselves. Living in the United States for most of my life, I struggle with the idea of Kami (神), which in English we roughly translate as god. Noto-San used a quote from Motoori Norinaga that explains what Kami is:

“Whatever seemed strikingly impressive, possessed the quality of excellence and virtue and inspired a feeling of awe…” that is Kami.

In ancient Shinto, these kami were associated with nature, such as mountains, waterfalls, great stones, etc. It is all about recognizing and worshipping the immense power of nature.

However, people who demonstrate the “quality of excellence and virtue” can also be kami, so that is why there are people from history that are enshrined.

We learned about the basic components of the shinto shrine through lecture but it was a whole different experience being able to see the shrine.  When we got to the shrine I was so impressed at the size of the main Tori-gate, my mouth literally fell open. (:O) After passing through the Sake offerings we were deep into the Chinju no mori (鎮守の杜) which is specifically a “man-made forest” to protect and invite the kami in.

At the end of Meiji Jingu tour, I found little treasures: Bonsai Trees!!! I really enjoy admiring these tiny yet majestic trees. These Bonsai Trees are offerings to the shrine. Some of these trees were incredibly old (over eighty years) and they were all unique.

Third day was also a very fulfilling day. I was expected to be the “leader/expert” person, but my limited knowledge about Shinto left me clueless. First, I would like to indicate that I had a wonderful, veggie filled day with the best noodles I have had in a long time. I love subsidized university cafeterias and cheap cabbage. 

I am so glad that Selinger-sensei has such a wonderful friend as Noto-san, who brought her very lovely friends to give us the experience of a lifetime. Continuing my musings on theater and religion (specifically rituals), we got to observe a Shinto ceremony, highly ritualized filled with familiar technical aspects such as music, dance, and lighting. I was miserably underdressed for the occasion but could not take my eyes off of the “stage.” Every step was carefully rehearsed. There were two audiences instead of the usual one. We, the worshippers, and the kami. The stage is the bridge connecting the two, a liminal space! Because of Meiji’s relatively recent construction, the hall included dimming electric lights and lovely air conditioning (much needed for my overheating exhaustion). There is the constant theme of purification and cleansing, reflected in the neat and tidy outfits of the priests. Even more significantly, Noto-san referred to the attire of the priests as “costumes.” Not simply clothes, but costumes, a word that highly signifies to me an additional layer of reality. Selinger-sensei mentioned Victor Turner 

My original project focused on the interfaith collaborative efforts in response to the triple (or more) disaster. Noto-San’s lecture had frequent references to Shinto’s relationship with other religions, such as Buddhism and Christianity. She had no reservations about going to church or temple, even as the daughter of a Shinto priest because Shinto is not a religion, in her definition. The shrine hosts multiple houses for the main kami but also “apartments” for the relatives and guests of the kami. This transactional practice has allowed Shinto to constantly evolve and to adapt. For example, the “shrine” of the Yokohama baseball pitcher not only shows the deification/reverance of individuals but also the ability to reinterpret religion as needed. Furthermore, the book of myth mentioned by Noto-san was created as “myth” but served as the legitimizing factor for the imperial family. Lastly, another interesting point (that differed from our discussions/readings) is the “ritualizing” of objects, 御神体。We talked about wrapping paper around a stone to mark the stone as kami. My understanding Noto-san’s explanation is that the stone is wrapped in order to garner kami presence. This takes away authority and manipulation/power from the human and returns it to the natural world. 

The kind Tanaka-san also gave us a detailed tour of the restricted sacred grounds of Meiji Jingu. I am not well-versed in botany or forestry, so please read Julian’s wonderful notes/observations/reflections about that. 

I wish my Japanese were better so I can ask Noto-san random questions and get to know her life better. Hopefully, she comes to visit Maine in the future and at that time, I can speak my thoughts well. 

Since we watched a documentary about the amazing forest of Meiji Shrine on our prep day 5, I have been looking forward to visiting Meiji Shrine and its 不思議な forest, which were created almost 100 years ago. Thanks to Selinger-sensei’s friend Noto-san, we had a wonderful lecture in the morning and an insider’s special experience with the ritual in Meiji Shrine. I was most impressed by the integration of Shinto in the daily life of the Japanese as well as the beautiful integration of Meiji Shrine in the city of Tokyo.

Despite the other great parts of Noto-san’s lecture on what is Shinto and how to worship in a shrine, it especially interested me how Shinto very well engages Japanese people in daily activities. According to Noto-san, Japanese people go to Shinto shrines, Buddhism temples, as well as Christian churches under different occasions–they have no problem having rituals of multiple religions (if ignoring the question whether Shinto is a religion). Interestingly, Shinto shrines are usually related to good things like birth, festivals, and sometimes weddings, while Buddhism temples are most commonly related to funerals, and people also go to churches for weddings. Religions work well together in Japan, and I think it is partly because Shinto is lowering itself to people’s daily life, both physically and spiritually (I am using the terms very loosely here).

As Noto-san introduced, the definition of Kami (the figure of worship) by Motoori Norinaga(本居宣長) is that “whatever seemed strikingly impressive possessed the quality of excellence and virtue, and inspired a feeling of awe” can be called kami. This definition is basically saying everything in our life can be worth of worship. From this perspective, Shinto is embedding worshipping and rituals into people’s daily lives, and this could be shown by the small Shinto shrine Japanese people usually keep at home. The values of Shinto create a welcoming environment for Shinto followers to participate in rituals of other faith systems/religions, such as Buddhism. On the other hand, the setting and construction of Meiji Shrine is incredible in bringing people into the Shrine and practicing Shinto.

We were also super lucky to get a chance to see the ritual of praying. The prayer was done by a priest, who read/sang the wishes of people coming to the Kami-sama and we got to see the sacred dancing, which was supposed to be provided for the kami-sama. Everything at the ritual was oriented at Kami; on our way out of the ritual hall, we were served a small saké dish of sake, which was served to kami and then shared to us, meaning we were receiving the sake as a gift from the kami. (I might be wrong about this)

As mentioned before, by the definition by Motoori, everything can be a kami. It was no wonder that many places and things in the shrine were “wrapped” by white paper straws and ropes: camphor trees outside of the hall and the rice field supplying rice that was given to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, for example. While surrounding kami by ropes is an act of establishing human contact and connection with kamis, the whole shrine can be seen as an act of creating human contact with Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, as the shrine and the outter guarding forest was manmade.