Title Itsukushima Shrine: Section of the Great Torii

  • Hiroshima
Topic(s):
$SETTINGS_DB.genreMap.get($item) Shrines/Temples/Churches Public Works & Institutions (Museums, etc.)
Medium/Media of Use:
Interpretive Sign
Text Length:
≤250 Words
FY Prepared:
2019
Associated Tourism Board:
Hatsukaichi City

厳島神社: 大鳥居の一部


宮島の大鳥居が1951年に大掛かりな修復を受けた時、2本の主柱のうち1本の基礎からかなりの部分が取り除かれました。1168年以来、島の玄関口を守る鳥居ですが、幾百年ものあいだに7回取り替えられてきました。修復の回数はさらに多いものです。


主柱は樹齢500年以上のクスノキでできています。クスノキは腐敗や昆虫に抵抗力のある木です。それでも、海中に70年以上建っていたあいだに、小さな穴やひだが点在するようになりました。穴のほとんどはある種のキクイムシによるものです。この甲殻類は、海外からもたらされ、1800年ごろより厳島神社の木製社殿の根元にとって悩みの種であり続けています。


Itsukushima Shrine: Section of the Great Torii


This sizeable slice of wood was removed from the base of one of the two main pillars of the Great Torii (O-torii) of Miyajima in 1951 when the gate underwent comprehensive repairs. A torii gate has stood guard over the entrance to the island since 1168, although it has been replaced seven times and repaired even more frequently over the centuries.


The main pillars were fashioned from more than 500-year-old camphor trees, a species noted for its natural resistance to rot and insects, yet this section is nonetheless dotted with small holes and creases, incurred over the more than 70 years it stood in the sea. Most of the holes were caused by a type of gribble, which has been a nuisance to the wooden foundations of Itsukushima Shrine ever since the crustacean was first encountered in Japan in the 1800s.


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