Nikkō Tōshō-gū

Here is the Nikkō Tōshō-gū from the Piece of Peace exhibition. This is a Shinto shrine in Nikkō, Japan, dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, whose remains are entombed there.

Thunder Gate

Nasu Highland Park is a Japanese amusement park. In addition to roller coasters and other attractions, there is also a large LEGO pavillion. Kelvin255 visited and took lots of photos, including this model of the Kaminarimon. This is the outer gate to the Sensō-ji, a 1400 year old Buddhist temple in Tokyo. In the LEGO model on either side of the great lantern you can see the statues of the Shinto gods of wind and thunder, Fūjin and Raijin.

Floating Torii

Along the same lines as the previous post, Matija Grguric just posted a great recreation of the Miyajima Torii, one of the most famous sights in Japan. At one point the entire island of Itsukushima was considered holy, and common people could not set foot on the ground there. A shrine to the daughters of the Shinto god of the sea and storms, Susanoo, stands on piers out over the water. The shrine would be approached by boat, and adherents would sail through the gate sitting out in the bay.

Torii

At Shinto shrines, and also some Buddhist temples, Torii gates mark the division between to ordinary world and the sacred space. At the BrickCon gathering of LEGO builders in Seattle this past weekend, the Brothers-Brick organized a collaborative display around the theme "Big in Japan". Robin Sather certainly fit the theme with his massive Torii gate. I'd be curious to learn the translation of the text, which you can see better here. This is technically a ryobu torii, and seems pretty authentic in design. I wonder if it was based on a specific real example.

Shinto Shrine

Around 100,000 Shinto shrines can be found throughout Japan. These structures are built to house kami, or spirits. In some cases these are more personalized deities and in others they are more less defined, like the spirit of the forest, etc. One of the most obvious marks of a shrine is the Torii gate, that marks the entrance into a sacred area.



Andrew Becraft (of the Brothers-Brick) built this tiny shrine as part of a display he will be bringing to the upcoming BrickCon gathering of LEGO builders in Seattle. The theme of this convention is 'Big in Japan', and Andrew wanted to include a series of recognizable sites from around Tokyo.