The Sengen Jinja Torii (Gateway) in Fujiyoshida

Category

Library Item

Item no

15131

Title

The Sengen Jinja Torii (Gateway) in Fujiyoshida

Description

A torii or gateway stands in the middle of a quiet street in Fujiyoshida, Japan. Wooden buildings lie on either side of the torii along the street. In front of the buildings drainage ditches are cut into the ground. Two Japanese men wearing short robes (probably rickshaw pullers) are posing beside the gateway.

The silhouette of Mt.Fuji is barely visible behind the torii gate, hidden in clouds.

Artist / maker

von Stillfried-Ratenicz, Franz

Date

1881

Size

19.5 x 24 cm

Type

Photograph

Location

Art and Design Library

This item is part of a collection of prints from the studio of Baron Franz von Stillfried-Ratenicz, an Austrian photographer practising in Japan in the late 1870's. Von Stillfried ran a studio in Yokohama at the same time as his brother Raimund, who was also known as 'Baron Stillfried'. This caused a great deal of confusion with the local residents and visitors to Japan in the Meiji Period, and with art historians today.

This album, which dates from 1879-83, comprises 67 separate mounted prints presented in a lacquerware box. Albums of this kind were popular among foreign tourists, who frequently selected the individual prints they wished to include from the studio's collection. Many of these albumen prints were hand tinted. This was a laborious process for which von Stillfried employed, at the height of his success, a substantial number of Japanese workers.

This photograph shows a street in the town of Fujiyoshida, located in the Fuji Go Ko (Five Lakes of Fuji) district. The town is situated on the northern slopes of Mount Fuji, in the province of Yamanashi (central Japan, Honshu).

Pilgrims travelling to Mount Fuji had to walk through this torii gate, which traditionally separates this world and the sacred world of Mount Fuji. Pilgrims could then enter the Shinto temple of Sengen Jinja, a compulsory stop for those wishing to climb the mountain. The Sengen Jinja shrine is still dedicated to the official Shinto Goddess of Mount Fuji, Princess Konohanasakuya. According to popular sources, legendary hero Yamato Takeru No Mikoto ('Brave Prince of Yamato') ordered in the year 110 the construction of the temple to worship Mount Fuji's deity.

During the 17th century, Fujiyoshida became the centre of Mount Fuji's sect of pilgrims, the Fujiko. There, travellers could purify and prepare themselves for the climb. The pilgrimage to Mount Fuji was supposed to bring safety to the travellers' homes and cure afflictions.

The sign board visible near the top of the torii bears the words 'Sangoko Daiichizan', which means 'the highest mountain among the three countries' (China, India and Japan), refering to Mount Fuji. The torii gate still stands today. A busy road stretches under it and a live webcamera is installed at the top.

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Related subjects

Architecture > Architectural features > Gates

Architecture > Architectural features > Torii

Places > Asia > Japan

Religion > Religious facilities > Shinto shrines