I was recently an invited speaker at the Japanese Osteoporosis Society’s annual conference in Niigata, Japan. One day was spent touring Sado Island. The island is known for its silver and gold mines, and the Sado Island Gold Mines are UNESCO World Heritage site. The island is also a sanctuary for the Japanese crested ibis, known locally as Toki.

As soon as I saw this scene on Sado Island, I knew immediately that I must paint it. We are looking through two guardian statues (komainu), and a large red gate (torii), at the sunlit Daizen-Jinja Shinto shrine. Shinto is considered Japan’s indigenous religion or spirituality, in which nature is a sacred manifestation of divinity and its power. Shinto is polytheistic and involves the worship of kami, the gods or supernatural entities believed to inhabit all things.

Historical records and local lore suggest this Shinto shrine was constructed in the late Kamakura period (late 12th to 14th century), while other sources suggest origins as early as the 9th century. Off to the left, hidden by foliage, is an old Noh stage with a thatched roof, which is still actively used for traditional Noh plays (dance theatre).

Komainu are guardian lions or dogs that ward off evil and protect the Buddha, the gods, and sacred places. Such statues are placed in temples and shrines to guard Buddhist images, and along the paths (like this one) leading to such places. At the base of these two statues is the inscription Hōnō (奉納) which means to offer or dedicate something to a Buddhist or Shinto deity. This implies that the statues were donated both as an offering to the Buddha and to the gods or guardians entrusted with protecting this sacred place. The inscription alone, however, does not identify what was offered or to whom.

Torii is a traditional Japanese gate that marks the transition from the everyday, mundane world to the sacred space of a Shinto shrine. This one has the classical structure of two vertical pillars (hashira) topped by two horizontal crossbeams (the upper kasagi and lower nuki). Hanging from it you see the shimenawa (注連縄), a thick, braided rope (typically woven rice straw or hemp) that acts as a sacred boundary marking the separation between the everyday, secular world and the holy grounds of the shrine. Two white, zigzag-shaped paper streamers called shide also hang from the gate and represent purity, divine presence, lightning, or the expanding energy of the guardian kami. Three bells made of rope hang from the shimenawa. Torii are typically painted vermillion and black; in this one the paint has faded and worn away in many areas, such that what remains looks crimson.

It is customary to walk to one side while approaching and crossing underneath the torii because the center line (seichū) is reserved for the kami. Also, one should pause immediately underneath and give a slight but respectful bow to the kami, before proceeding quietly and without touching the torii. Upon exiting through the torii, one should turn give a final respectful bow. The tour guide did not tell me any of this! I went back and forth several times while taking reference photographs.

I chose the title after much deliberation about possibilities that referred to guardians, borders, the mundane and the spiritual, etc. “Through the Torii” implies both the motion and the view, and so I thought it the best choice.

I’d like to thank Dr. Takumi Kurabayashi who invited me and proved a very gracious and generous host; he also arranged the tour of Sado Island. His wife Keiko coordinated and hosted an afternoon of experiencing traditional Japanese culture for the invited speakers, including calligraphy, a tea service, and yukata or kimono dressing.

I’ve been to Japan several times and have now visited Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima, Niigata, and Sado Island.

During the pandemic I did a series of international scenes, of which “Shinto Shrine” depicts the Itsukushima Shrine and its floating torii, located near the city of Hiroshima.

Another connection that I have with Japan is that in 2008, my painting “Green Gables House” became millions of stamps in an historic joint first issue by Canada Post and Japan Post, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the book Anne of Green Gables, by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery.