You are standing before the Ishi no Torii, the stone torii of Shitennoji. If it strikes you as odd, you are right: torii belong to Shinto shrines, not Buddhist temples. For centuries, the two religions lived side by side in Japan, intertwined, and this arch is a witness to that blend.

1Stone instead of wood

According to the temple's history, there was first a wooden torii here, and in 1294 the monk Ninshō replaced it with this stone one. It is an Important Cultural Property and one of the oldest stone torii in Japan.

2The gate of Paradise

Look at the plaque in the center. Its inscription declares this to be the place where Buddha turns the wheel of the Law, and the center of the eastern gate of Paradise. In Pure Land Buddhism, the paradise of Amida Buddha lies in the west, beyond the setting sun. And from here, Shitennoji once looked out over the sea.

At the equinoxes the sun sets directly behind the torii, and the faithful came to watch it while imagining Paradise.

This practice is called nissōkan, "meditation on the setting sun". Today buildings block the horizon, but the temple still celebrates those sunsets.

3What to look for

  • The gilded plaque with the Paradise inscription.
  • The Gokuraku-mon, the "gate of Paradise", just behind the torii.
  • The westward orientation: look toward where the sun sets.

Documented

Shitennoji's stone torii was erected in 1294 and is an Important Cultural Property; its plaque identifies it as the center of the eastern gate of Paradise.

Oral tradition

That the west of Shitennoji was a gateway to Amida's Paradise is a medieval religious belief, not a geographical fact.

Sources and credits

Shitennoji Temple (official website); Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan, cultural heritage database (Bunka Isan Online); Japanese Wikipedia, "四天王寺".

Photos:

  • The great stone torii at the west entrance of Shitennō-ji: KENPEI, CC BY-SA 3.0.

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