I'm currently touring Kyoto, which was one of the capitals of Japan before Tokyo. Note also that Kyoto is an anagram of Tokyo! Many of the shrines and templates that I've visited have Tori Gates, which are large orange archways that are thought to purify anyone who passes through them. Some of the arches are huge and placed over roadways. In America, this would probably be advertised as drive-thru purification!
Anyhow, since I visited The Gates Exhibition in New York last week, I couldn't help but notice the similarities between a Tori gate and a Central Park gate. Indeed, the Fushimi Inari Shrine has large numbers of gates arranged into walkways that look remarkably like those in New York, although without the billowing curtains. I encourage you to click on this link and see for yourself.
Was looking for the traditional gates I saw in Japan when I visited since I wanted to add something like that to my Illinois garden space with bamboo, but now am wondering. When I visted Japan, for the first time, I was concerned about the Christian and Jewish prohibitions regarding false gods, wondering if I would be held in damnation for bowing, visiting a shrine, following local customs. I visited in 79, 81, 83, the first time that was ever a factor. Now am doing bamboo in the yard, and want a gate like shown here, I visited a place with many gates where I was told, a place to wash your money. I was working for Hitachi at the time in Service with consumer products, like VCR's and computers.
Tomcat Bluepuma
Posted by: Tom Roscoe | Apr 29, 2006 at 08:04 AM