#1: BLUE
Minato Shrine in Nobeoka City, Miyazaki Pref. Photo credit: Kuriyama Takashi @age_cox
Example of a red Pokémon (Giratina) appearing as a rare blue ‘shiny’ version
On this inaugural #ToriiTuesday if I do say so myself (I do), we may ask "Why is this torii blue, when nine times out of ten they are red?" Is it a shiny?
First of all, there is an amazing variety of torii within Japan! So far I've posted a lot about torii outside of Japan. But one of the keys to understanding why global torii look different is to understand that #alltoriiarebeautiful. And some folks are really trying their best.
Second, there are many reasons a torii may be red, or to be more specific, vermillion. They may face south. They may have a special syncretic connection to Buddhism, such as Inari shrines and Hachiman shrine.
The vermillion pigment made with cinnabar (mercury sulfide) has bactericide and insecticide properites, helping to fight against wood degradation. In other words, the red paint helps protect wooden structures, like torii. Not to mention, red is a lucky color!
The “Thousand Torii” Tunnel at Fushimi Inari Grand Shrine. Photo by David Emrich on Unsplash
Ok, so again. Why blue? No, these torii are not really red, photographed, and then edited. They really are blue. The answer lies in the shrine's location. You see, there are many possible colors of torii, which we will explore on future Tuesdays!
According to the classical Five Phases theory (Ch. wuxing; Jp. gogyō, 五行; Yin-Yang, Daoist, Onmyōdō, what-have-you), five directions are associated with five colors. North is associated with black, east with blue, south with red, west with white, and the center with yellow. There are a lot of other associations baked into this metaphysical system, such as elements, sacred beasts, planets, etc. But let’s stick with directions and colors for now.
Torii may be painted according to the direction in which they face, although we’ll see later that this is not always the case! But if we take a look at Minato Shrine's location in Miyazaki Prefecture, along the coast, we see that the shrine does indeed face... (south)east! Therefore, blue!
It's tempting to say that Minato Shrine's torii are blue because the site's enshrined deities (kami 神) are sea deities. But in this case, it's a bit of a coincidence. BUT the connection with the sea and the coast DID likely place a role in it's placement. So, kinda?
If you're interested in learning more about Shinto and sea kami through popular culture, please check out my Eat Pray Anime video with Dr. Fabio Rambelli, editor of "The Sea and the Sacred in Japan" on the undersea world of Tokoyo, maritime gods, and ritual purification in Genshin Impact!
This isn't the only blue torii, but that's it for today! Happy #ToriiTuesday folks! Stay tuned for more surprising torii shapes, sizes, colors, and stories.
