Ask John: What’s the Significance of Shrines in Anime?

Question:
I have noticed in many anime and manga that when the characters are traveling somewhere they come across many huts or other small roofed buildings and there is often food in there. Is this similar to log cabins in the west?

Answer:
Shrines across Japan, in particular, small, roadside shrines, are exemplary of Japan’s inherent and omni-present spirituality. Unlike the American log cabin, the Japanese shrine is not a remnant of frontiersmanship. The Japanese shrine is not a left-over relic. The Japanese shrine is a constant measure of Japanese faith. Typically in America, the log cabin is a reminder of the self-sustaining pioneers that ventured into the uncharted heart of America. The log cabin is now an antique – a sign of America’s rustic past. Japanese shrines are fundamentally different because even if they are old, they still reflect contemporary Japanese values and beliefs, and they still have the same cultural and religious significance that they had when they were first constructed.

Small shrines appear in anime often because such shrines are common throughout Japan. Even in the midst of Tokyo, one of the world’s most industrialized and busy cities, one will still find standing stone shrines on sidewalks and side streets, and small shrines and temples complete with fountains and trees, nestled amidst towering skyscrapers and the bustle of traffic. These revered shrines are family owned shrines, or small community shrines built, maintained, and respected because of Japanese society’s influential Buddhist and Shinto beliefs.

Viewers that watch a lot of anime will doubtlessly notice small roadside shrines or small stone statues. These statues are called “Jizo,” or respectfully, “O-Jizo.” These stone statues of a Buddhist monk are the image of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. Japanese culture has adopted “Jizo-sama,” as the patron saint of children and travelers. Bereaved parents sometimes put children’s clothes on Jizo statues, or leave food as an offering to Jizo-sama to petition for his care over the spirits of dead children. (Since food left at shrines is a holy offering, and not a courtesy for travelers, you may occasionally see desperately hungry anime characters apologize to a god before taking the food offering left for the god.) Jizo statues also line roadsides to watch over the safety of travelers. Small roadside shrines are also sometimes devoted to O-Jizo, although roadside shrines are also frequently devoted to the worship of any one of the countless Buddhist or Shinto divinities.

Unlike Christianity and Judaism, monotheistic religions which recognize spirituality in the form of a single God and therefore worship God in churches and synagogues, the polytheistic Shinto religion of Japan perceives divinity in everything. In Shinto, everything from the sun and the earth to cars and kitchen knives has a spirit. So since divinity is all around, places and objects of worship aren’t limited to just churches. Since spirituality is everywhere, shrines and holy statues devoted to the respect and worship of Japanese gods, or the spirits of deceased relatives, are found everywhere in Japan, from temples to roadside shrines to small, personal shrines in businesses and even private homes.

Article revised June 14, 2007