Episode notes
Itsukushima, or Miyajima, in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, was treated as a living god: an island dedicated to the three Munakata goddesses, daughters of the storm god Susanoo, beneath the 1,700 foot Mount Misen. To keep it pure, commoners were long banned, burials were forbidden, and pregnant, elderly, and dying residents had to leave for the mainland. A shrine existed earlier, with a first torii said to date to 569 CE, but its grandeur came from Taira no Kiyomori, governor of Aki province by 1168 and the rising power at the imperial court. His Taira clan traded with the Song dynasty and sought control of Inland Sea shipping, and honoring the goddesses of navigation served both faith and business. Legend says an old monk promised him dominion over Japan if he built the shrine.
To avoid touching the sacred ground, the main shrine, guest shrine, and 17 other structures were built in the shinden-zukuri style as piers over the tidal flats. Kiyomori, who saw the goddesses as forms of Kannon, gave the shrine 32 sutra scrolls decorated with gold, silver, and mother of pearl. In 1555 Mori Motonari surprised Sue Takafusa there in a night attack in a rainstorm, and thousands died on the sacred shore. Blood-soaked topsoil was scraped into the sea, and Motonari funded a rebuild of the main hall in 1571.
- The 50 foot O-torii gate is camphor wood, unanchored, and held down by stones packed into its hollow top
- Its four extra support legs are a hallmark of Ryobu, or dual, Shinto
- The main hall walls carry 15 coats of white stucco applied between tides
- The current gate dates to 1875, and Typhoon Songda tore up boardwalks and roofs in 2004
- In the yearly Kangensai, three boats lashed into one carry court musicians and are spun through the shrine's narrow corridors at dusk