A torii gate stood neatly at the bottom of the stairs leading to the Okamoto Hachiman Shrine

Even if one understands in one's head that the torii standing at a shrine marks the entrance to the sacred area, it is not often that one actually feels it with one's five senses. This is especially true for shrines located in urban areas. The large torii of Yasukuni Shrine overwhelms me when I pass through it, but I do not feel like entering the sacred space. Why is this? Perhaps it was because so many people were coming and going under the torii gate that I did not feel a special sense of being there.

In this sense, the torii gate at Okamoto Hachiman Shrine in Okamoto, Tokyo, which I visited on the day, was full of atmosphere and made me feel as if I was entering a sacred area. The torii gate standing at the bottom of the stairs leading to the pavilion on top of a small hill stands quietly and unassertively, and from here, not only the pavilion itself, but even the stairs leading to it are covered with trees, so that one cannot see it clearly. From here, one cannot see the shrine pavilions, or even the approach stairs, for they are covered with trees. The appearance of the torii gate was so atmospheric that I was tempted to walk through it and climb the stairs to pay my respects to the shrine even though I had no intention of going there.

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