The Spirit of Totoro at Zojo-Ji Temple

I have always been a huge fan of Hayao Miyazaki's Japan Animation films like My Friend Totoro, Spirited Away, Ponyo, The Cat Returns, Castle in the Sky, Nausicaa, Kiki's Delivery Service and many others and I think I have all the DVD's. The fantasy world of Hayao Miyazaki is a rich one but it is certainly based on many historical facts and mythology of the Japanese Culture. Totoro is a spirit that is featured in one of Miyazaki's films and it befriends two small Japanese girls named Mei and Satsuki as they move to the countryside with their father to be near their mother who is sick in the hospital. The children and spirits come alive in this film in a most wonderful and subtle way. Totoro and Mei are shown in a Studio Ghibli/Disney Theatrical Release Poster picture below. Many themes in Miyazaki's films connect spirits through Art and Children and deal with matters of the impermanence of life and death and the indistinct and porous boundary children live in between the world of spirits and their new earthly worlds.

Theatrical Release Poster for "My Friend Totoro" by Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli Films

My journey of "Totoro" discovery occurred during a recent week long trip to Tokyo, Japan,  when I stayed in the Prince Hotel which is next to the old and highly venerated Zojo-Ji Temple in the heart of Tokyo.  After work and one day of the weekend I got to experience this temple in more detail and like most things Japanese it slowly released some of its secrets only with patient observation - and there was a connection with those Miyazaki films and the spiritual life of the Japanese.

In less than a 2 minute walk to the shrine from the hotel lobby, you cross a small tree covered lane between the Temple area and the hotel, and you are thrust into a different time and space.  The Zojo-Ji Temple itself was originally founded in 1393 by the Jodo Buddhist Sect in a location in the Kanto area but was later moved in 1598 to the current original Edo Period site by the Tokugawa Shogun and was under their protection for close to 300 years. The burial site for 6 of the Shoguns is located at Zojo-Ji. The temple at its peak housed over 3,000 priests.



Zojo-Ji Temple Comes into View from Path from Hotel

 The Sanmon Gate to the Temple grounds was constructed in 1604 and is shown in the picture I took from the street that is directly perpendicular to the gate. The gate was the only part of the original temple grounds which survived the Fire bombing of Tokyo by American bombers during World War 2. One can imagine the original beauty of the place as one walks through this gate from the city into the grounds. I noticed that Japanese joggers, as they run by the entrance to this gate, stop and bow with great respect to the Shrine. Bow twice, Clap twice, Bow Once is the ritual.



Sanmon Gate Entrance to Zojo-Ji Temple Built in 1604


On the other side of this gate stands a beautiful mature Himalayan Cedar tree planted in 1879 by General Grant, the 18th President of the United States, which also survived the firebombing of Tokyo in 1945. This lovely gate has made it into the Japanese Mythology through the beautiful Woodblock prints of Hosui and you feel the same dreamy watercolor quality of design in Miyazaki's film making. Reality starts making its way into Myth and Art.

Zojo-Ji Sanmon Gate depicted by Hosui in a Classic Japanese Woodblock Print

One of the features of the Zojo-Ji temple are small stone "Jizu" statues which represent children who have died in early childhood or as babies. The temple is full of them and they are carefully dressed in knitted caps and small gowns and equipped with small pinwheel toys which turn in the spirit wind to help them on their journeys. These statues have a strong resemblance to Totoro and also to stone spirit statues you see all over Japan. It is an emotional experience standing in front of so many lost children so carefully dressed and cared for.


Spirit Children dressed for their trip through the Otherworld

 I was taken by the effect when the wind blows through these statues causing the pinwheels to turn and animating the statues and made a connection to Miyazaki's films as he often uses a gust of wind to show presence of spirits. The children are closest to the spirit world since they recently came from there so it is clear why Miyazaki films are designed this way.

The Multitude of "Jizo" Children traveling to the Otherworld

As you walk around the temple, more secrets are revealed. One secret is what is left of the Mausoleum of six of the Tokugawa which is made visible through a set of bronze doors you see at the back of the temple complex. These doors have the 3 petaled emblem of the Tokugawa on them and stand as quiet sentry to the old history of the place.


Burial Mausoleum of Six of the Tokugawa Shoguns at Zojo-Ji Site

 A giant bell graces the grounds of Zojo-Ji site and it is almost 8 feet in height hanging from a standalone platform located towards the Sanmon Gate entry. Its mighty bell is struck at auspicious times calling the spirits much the same as Miyazaki uses bells and sound to propel his spirits through his stories.



The Giant Bell at Zojo-Ji Shrine

Animals play an important part in Miyazaki's films. On the grounds of Zojo-Ji, a Japanese Monkey and his master performed tricks for the Temple visitors. It seemed somehow strangely appropriate to the place.




The Temple Monkey and His Master

 The theme of impermanence in Miyazaki's film is mirrored in the Temple site with the fading sound of the bell, the fleeting cherry blossoms so prized in Japan, the children who were here and are now "Jizo" traveling in the spirit world, the temple which was largely destroyed in the firebombing of Tokyo in 1945, the fading memories of the Tokugawa as the Meiji replaced them and now the Meiji replaced with Modern Japan.  This impermanence is represented in Miyazaki's films by Totoro as he appears and disappears throughout the film each time bringing wonder while he is there but then you wonder is he real after he disappears.  Such is the interplay of the earthly life and that of the spirits the children live in and the impermanence. This was made even more poignant when I was made aware on this trip that Hiyao Miyasaki was not dead as the media had reported and as I believed, but was still alive and making films! It showed me how impermanent beliefs are with just that very big surprise.

After my experience at the Zojo-Ji shrine for a week of silent study, I shall watch the Miyasaki Animated films with new eyes to see, and new ears to hear, the real truth and meaning behind these wonderful creations and appreciate more the spirit world of old Japan and the world the Modern Japanese continue to create.

Feb 19, 2012
Peter

Happy Accident at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, Japan

Feb 11, 2012 was National Day in Japan but I was unaware of that fact until I arrived at the Meiji Jingumae (Shrine) in Tokyo around 11 AM local time. It turned out to be a happy accident and a very special day for me as this kind of event was something I had wanted to witness for more than 20 years after seeing it in a National Geographic magazine.

Getting off the Tokyo's central circular Yamanote Line at the Harajuku stop, I was met with a throng of Japanese revelers who had come to the celebration.  Upon my arrival I walked up to the entrance of the Meiji Shrine where the revelers were carrying numerous shrines on their shoulders

Japan National Day was started by the Meiji Emperors in 1873 following the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate reign (and Edo Period) and was a huge National celebration in years up to 1945 following the surrender of Japan after the second world war.  It was, however, restarted in the 1950's and continues to this day. The Meiji Emperors were responsible for creation of Modern Japan from a state of Feudal Japanese style rule. So the Emperors were venerated for this reason.

Japanese Revelers carrying a special Shrine to the Central Meiji Shrine

One of the features of the Meiji period was that Japan's Early spiritual practice called Shintoism, was elevated to the state of a "National Religion" even though it is not a religion as Westerners know that term but more a celebration of life through veneration of "Kami" or divine spirits. Shinto has more in common with North American Native Spiritual practice of veneration of nature than any specific God centric religion like Christianity. On the Shrines the essential symbol marking an entrance to a Shinto Sacred site is the "Torii" which is well known in Japan and around the world. The picture below shows the entrance Torii to the Meiji Shrine area and the wood is made from trees 1,700 years old. Japanese craftsmen particularly venerate the Cryptomeria (Cedar) species as the most sacred of woods and it was and is used in Temple Construction. If you look closely on the shrine above you will see "torii" on the temple platform at all four entrances to the portable shrine.



Meiji Shrine "Torii" at the entrance where Shrines were carried in

The mood was very festive in carrying the shrines toward the Meiji Shrine building and you can see from the video below that it is a major event with both men and women carrying the shrines to the sounds of "Isa, Isa, Isa!"


As the shrines enter the main court area of the Meiji shrine building, they are welcomed as they come through the gates by a group of greeter officials standing at the main entrance to the building. 

In the main court were some traditional Japanese Drummers performing their craft with great excitement.

Japanese Drummers put on quite a show

 New born babies come to the Meiji shrine to be blessed.  The drumming was powerful and there were many types of drums along the way including this massive drum shown in the picture below.

Massive Drum being beaten just outside the entry gates to the shrine

The main shrine area was not that big for an Imperial shrine compared to what you would see in China, but its intimacy and personal nature was quite appealing. The woodcraft was just beautiful in its simplicity and the attention to detail was what you would expect from such craftsmanship. The Entrance gate is shown in the picture below and some details of the surrounding gate.



Meiji Shrine main Court with revelers entering to watch the Shrines come in

Some deail of the surrounding woodwork is shown below.

Some wood detail of the surrounding courtyard area

It was a memorable day and one I will not soon forget. Sometimes life hands you a wonderful day and your job is to just enjoy the dance.

Peter