What is the True Japanese Spirit?

Here is our heart’s birthplace.
Our restless traveler’s spirit
Finds itself, again, a child.

These are the words of Eiji Yoshikawa dedicated to Ise Jingu. These words, “heart’s birthplace,” have become a representation of the temple itself. However, Eiji Yoshikawa was born in Yokohama. Most who visit Ise Jingu were born somewhere far away and rarely ever recall childhood memories while roaming its grounds. However, the “sensation” of it being your “heart’s birthplace” is certainly present.

Enshrined in Naiku is the ancestor to the Emperor himself,Amaterasu-Omikami. Still, Ise isn't Amaterasu’s hometown. 2000 years ago the country of Japan was swept with a deadly plague which killed over half of its people. What have we done wrong? Riddled with worry, the emperor turned to a fortune teller who proclaimed, “You must find a better place to enshrine Amaterasu.” The emperor then sent his daughter out in search of this place. After many twists and turns, the emperor’s daughter found herself on the bank of the Isuzu River when she heard the voice of the goddess proclaim this to be the place. This the legend surrounding Naiku’s founding.

So, if this isn’t the birthplace of neither the Emperor nor Amaterasu, then how can it be the “heart’s birthplace” for the Japanese people?

In the Geku guide, we introduced the “Higoto-asa-yu-omoike-sai”, a festival which has been upheld for 1500 years. For 1500 years, this festival has been held everyday in the same way. By upholding this festival, the shrine is in turn, protecting the “how the Japanese people should be.” This is the same purpose in Naiku. Behind Naiku stretches a forest which—like the buildings, objects of worship, sacred treasures, and rituals—have remained almost exactly the same for the past 2000 years This phenomenon is thanks to the Shikinen-Sengu ritual. Every 20 years in the Shikinen-Sengu ritual, one of the most important shinto rituals, the main temple on the grounds is rebuilt. It’s not just the landscape. Everything you see here here is a reflection of the original Japanese landscape. Ise Jingu is not merely a relic of the past, but is an asset of the present. It is a reflection of the Japanese nation which Ise Jingu has protected throughout its years. By experiencing this, those living in the present begin to really think about who the Japanese people really are.

We all have DNA. Our DNA carries memories from before we are born—memories that have been carried endlessly from our parents and their parents and generations before them. So in a sense, the 2000 years of history that is held in Ise Jingu also exists in our DNA. Maybe this is where Eiji Yoshikawa’s words come from. “Finds itself, again, a child”—maybe this means more than just “returning to your childhood.” Maybe it also means looking back through 2000 years of DNA and straight into the roots of the Japanese people. Perhaps that’s what he wanted to say.

We hope you can awaken the “heart’s birthplace” resting in your DNA as well.