Sacred Boundaries At Shinto Shrines

Invisible Lines Marking Divine Space

The origin of Shinto is said to trace back to the nature worship practices originating in the Jomon period. Even today, there are approximately 80,507 shrines across Japan, surpassing Buddhist temples in number and making them one of Japan’s most numerous religious and cultural architectural forms. The majority of these shrines are managed by local residents, with only around 20,000 shrines having a permanent Shinto priest. In reality, it is common for one priest to manage several shrines concurrently. Through my own extensive travels and research, having visited numerous shrines nationwide, I have frequently experienced stepping into shrine precincts and immediately being enveloped in an atmosphere distinctly more solemn and sacred than everyday spaces. It’s a curious sensation, but at especially auspicious shrines, merely passing through the torii gate (鳥居) changes the air into a state of complete purity, gently heightening spiritual responsiveness. When visiting particularly special shrines, I deliberately visit in the early morning and, following ancient customs, abstain from eating meat (particularly four-legged animals) for at least three days prior to the visit.

This unique sensation, challenging to fully convey through words, arises from what is known as a “kekkai” (結界), an invisible spiritual boundary established at shrines. Originally a Buddhist term, kekkai signifies the boundary separating a “sacred area” (聖域) from the “profane world” (俗世). Similarly, at Shinto shrines, structures such as torii gates, sacred ropes known as shimenawa (注連縄), and fences called tamagaki (玉垣) physically demarcate this boundary, thus creating a distinctly “holy space.”

At the root of Shinto is nature worship, which venerates mountains, forests, rocks, and ancient trees themselves as divine entities. Numerous ancient legends remain across Japan, calling mountains inhabited by deities “Kannabi” (神奈備), and sacred rocks “Iwakura” (磐座), though originally these distinctions did not exist, with the entire area considered sacred. Since ancient times, before shrine buildings existed, specific mountains or forests were revered as “holy spaces,” treated with reverence and carefully avoided by people. Although the precise origins of shrine architecture remain unclear, archaeological insights point to connections with Yayoi period ritual buildings and raised-floor storehouses. Later, influenced by Buddhism’s arrival in Japan, Shinto-related clans began constructing shrines explicitly to counter Buddhism’s idolatrous temples and statues.