Demonstration Art

From an ukiyo-e print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798 – 1861). See discussion.

Calligraphy

The word below is kanji for torii for those who want to practice their calligraphy.

The literal meanings of the kanji characters that comprise torii is bird (tori - 鳥) and existence (i - 居). Japanese mythology explains this strange combination. The short version is that the Shintō sun Goddess, Amaterasu, had isolated herself in a cave, the mouth of which she blocked with a boulder after a violent encounter with another God, causing an eclipse. The world became pitch black. The combined efforts of all the other Gods could not get her come out. A wise old man suggested building a perch at the mouth of the cave and placing all of the local town's roosters on it. Their incessant crowing perked Amaterasu's curiosity. She peeked out of the cave, providing the other Gods the opportunity to roll the boulder away. Light was brought back into the world. The bird perch was the first torii. That is how the torii became a symbol of the entrance to the sacred, a gate that brings one from darkness into light.