Myōjin torii

What a myōjin torii is

The myōjin torii is the most widespread type of torii at Japanese shrines. Two posts carry an upper lintel, the kasagi, whose ends sweep upward, with a second lintel, the shimaki, beneath it. A tie beam, the nuki, joins the posts below and projects beyond them at both ends. A short central strut, the gakuzuka, stands between the lintel and the tie beam to hold the name tablet. The posts usually lean slightly inward.

It differs from related types in the shape and number of its members. The shinmei torii has a straight kasagi without upsweep, no shimaki and a tie beam that does not project, a plain form seen at Ise and elsewhere. The ryōbu torii takes the myōjin form and adds small bracing posts, chigobashira, before and behind each main post.

Torii are made of wood, stone, copper and later reinforced concrete, and the type is judged by the arrangement of members, not the material.

Reading the records and the torii

Records give material and type together, as stone myōjin torii or timber myōjin torii. The torii of Shitennoji in Osaka, an Important Cultural Property, is a stone myōjin torii of 1294. Its record notes a shimaki of timber sheathed in copper, a tie beam between the posts, and a central strut and tablet of copper, showing different materials for different members. That it stands in the precinct of a Buddhist temple is itself often cited as a reflection of the historical blending of Shinto and Buddhism.

On site, look at the curve of the top lintel and whether a second lintel lies beneath it. An upswept kasagi over a shimaki, with the tie beam projecting beyond the posts, is a myōjin torii. A straight kasagi without a shimaki indicates a shinmei torii, and small posts set before and behind the main posts indicate a ryōbu torii.