Japan's Ise Shrine and its Thirteen-Hundred-Year-Old Reconstruction Tradition

Abstract

Japan's Ise Shrine is famous for its thirteen-hundred-year-old reconstruction tradition, the Shikinen sengu, in which the most sacred structures are completely rebuilt every twenty years. The construction process incorporates not only the usual elements of planning, materials procurement, and installation, but also integrates some thirty Shinto rituals that mark important milestones in the construction process. This renewal is remarkable because it preserves an ancient architectural style that is extremely susceptible to decay as well as the ancient construction technologies needed to build it. Because each cycle is very closely modeled on its predecessor, the most recent reconstruction, completed in 1993, provides a window through which we can examine ancient construction attitudes and technologies.