Preservation and Abolishment
in the History of Forest and Architecture
-
the positions of Minakata Kumagusu and Itoh Chuta in Modernization of Space
Tomoko SENDA*
*Tokyo Institute of Tecnology2-12-1 Ohokayama meguro-ku Tokyo152-8552
JAPAN, [email protected]
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to clarify the significance of the modernization of space in Japan by examining
the modification of values of space through its rational configuration led by the image of ‘the pure Japanese’.
In
this context, the thoughts and practices of Minakata Kumagusu, the first Japanese to use the word, “ecology”, and, Ito
Chuta, an architect of modern religious buildings, will be examined.
At the time of the Meiji Restoration, the government reduced the number of Shinto shrines and the traditional spaces,
which had been regarded as sacred in the traditional sense of Japanese religion, suffered from radical change in their
quality. It should be noted that, besides this process of ‘abolishing’, the process of ‘preserving’ of ‘the Japanese’ was
under the way. The image of `the pure Japanese’ was being produced by architectures, museums, fine arts and so on.
Itoh Chuta, an authority of architecture in this period, had two contrasting attitudes towards `the pure Japanese’, since
he, while mixing European taste with that of Japanese, designed many new shrines.
On the other hand, Minakata Kumagusu opposed the destruction of forests of shrines. His activities should be
understood as a kind of deviation from the process of abolishing traditional religious places and from preserving ‘the
pure Japanese.’
As a result of compounding actions of abolishment and preservation, traditional and sacred spaces became mediocre,
vanacular devoid of religious meaning.
Key words: Minakata Kumagusu, Itoh Chuta, Sinto Shrine, Preservation, Meiji Restoration
1. Introduction
Since modern times, Japan’s relationship with “space” has been a continual push and pull between
“abolishment” and “preservation.” The theme of this paper is to present this paradoxical relationship by
contrasting the philosophies of two important Japanese figures: Minakata Kumagusu and Itoh Chuta.
Typically, when someone intends to preserve something, the intention he/she makes usually prevails a value
judgment that justifies “the preservation”. The key thing is that, in institutionalizing something based upon the
judgment, something being deviated will be targeted to become an object of “abolishing”.
As a result, many sacred spaces within traditional Japanese communities that were deemed less valuable were
thoroughly destroyed during the modern era. This paper aims to clarify the judgmental logic of “preservation” and
“abolishment” while drawing a clear line between that which has value and that which does not. It is important to
note that much of what was considered valuable was influenced by the concept “Japanese Purity”.
2. The processes of
The processes of
“abolishing” and “preservation”
“abolishing” and “preservation”
were both under way. Under the hierarchical system
devised by the Meiji Government, highly ranked shrines
were preserved and/or newly built while old small shrines
destroyed.
2.1 The politics of “abolishing”
At the time of the Meiji Restoration, the government
instituted Shintoism as the state religion[1]. Although, the
existing Shinto religion had been mixed with Buddhism[2],
the government aimed to separate it from Sintoism and
oppress Buddhism[3]. As a result, many of the smaller
scale Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples were destroyed.
And,
Shinto shrines all over the country were ranked
Fig.1 The Ranking of Shrines
hierarchically (Fig.1) with the Ise Shrine at the apex of triangle[4], From this first phase of
reconstruction, the
modern archetype of the Shinto shrine emerged.
The second phase took place during the time of the Russo - Japanese war. At the time, in many local areas,
traditional communities had been fallen apart. That is to say, when Japan would open to international relations,
inside of Japan would go through the process of split. The Government would strengthen the ties of communities
by making Shinto shrines the pillar of communities. So the Government needed only one shrine for each
community so that many other shrines were destroyed. Table.1 shows the number of shrines from 1898 to 1916
(the duration of the second phase). The table illustrates that nationally, the number of shrines increased but on the
prefectural level, the number of no-classed shrines decreased, as a result of this “purifying” reconstruction process.
In particular, shrines in the Mie(5,099→96) and Wakayama(3,103→165) areas diminished considerably.
It is unfortunate, however that it was these no-classed shrines and forest
that were most sacred to the Japanese people.
The destruction of such
sacred spaces created a loss in spirit, a mourning of lost sacredness. As the
Shinto shrine lost its intimate relationship with its people, a state symbol of
Japanese identity emerged.
Shinto shrines transformed from places of
spiritual importance to places of cultural and national identity. These purely
“nationalistic” symbols were the big and newly constructed shrines.
2.2 “Architecture” and “Preservation”
Before modern times, people did not view Buddhist temples and Shinto
shrines as merely representative of “Japanese architecture”, but rather
sacred spaces to commune with the gods. However, in modern times, people
became to simply regard temples and shrines as mere representations of a
“Japanese arts.”
By the end of Meiji reconstruction, the government policy of restructuring
Fig.2 the “Utsugi” Shrine
(An old, smaller shrine)
Government, nation
1898
Hokkaido
Aomori
Iwate
Akita
Yamagata
Miyagi
Fukushima
Niigata
Tokyo
Kanagawa
Saitama
Chiba
Ibaragi
Tochigi
Gunma
Nagano
Yamanashi
Shizuoka
Aichi
Mie
Gifu
Shiga
Fukui
Ishikawa
Toyama
Kyoto
Osaka
Nara
Wakayama
Hyogo
Okayama
Hiroshima
Yamaguchi
Shimane
Tottori
Tokushima
Kagawa
Ehime
Kochi
Nagasaki
Saga
Fukuoka
Kumamoto
Oita
Miyazaki
Kagoshima
total
2
1
1
1
4
2
4
2
3
3
2
4
4
4
1
2
1
8
3
3
2
3
4
3
1
20
7
10
5
8
3
2
4
6
3
2
2
1
1
3
1
7
3
2
3
5
166
1916
2
1
1
1
5
2
4
2
2
3
2
4
4
4
1
3
1
8
3
4
2
3
4
4
1
20
7
10
6
8
3
2
6
7
3
2
2
1
1
3
1
8
4
3
3
5
176
Prefecture, community
1898
No-classed
1916
278
778
492
726
1066
948
1215
635
676
811
1927
2377
1682
1167
1106
2060
1015
1844
2700
1735
2504
1033
1637
1900
2428
1109
1390
1191
685
2263
1673
1074
440
1179
761
757
328
999
1547
428
278
1711
1068
1576
521
655
56373
1898
245
756
472
629
970
693
1198
589
682
758
1502
2201
1613
1120
871
1713
984
1779
2568
647
2318
1015
1353
1652
2243
1095
595
1101
381
2113
1342
976
392
957
623
743
332
838
1489
430
277
1652
1048
1369
488
521
49333
1916
229
60
731
4106
2187
1727
3345
7788
1841
1809
5428
4398
2716
5026
2943
4920
799
2223
2378
5099
4242
1870
1201
1007
1363
1867
505
688
3103
5149
7560
8598
2182
2114
851
3407
3125
4380
4560
1219
3281
6092
3546
1696
355
1645
135329
168
50
529
737
1445
630
3002
4978
1216
673
920
2712
1229
2371
477
1742
672
1694
1194
96
2911
937
397
278
842
1607
76
447
165
2804
3979
4493
482
546
404
2335
2248
560
3294
1133
1821
4528
3323
779
260
1027
68211
Table. 1 The contrast of the number of shrines [5]
and reducing the number of sacred spaces had run its course. Big, new shrines had been built as national symbols.
In the midst of such large-scale national rebuilding, Japanese architects who devoted to importing European
architectural skill and knowledge began to raise the following question. “What is Japanese architecture?” [6]It was
Itoh Chuta who played the central role in redefining and building new shrines as “Japanese architecture.”
“What is pure Japanese architecture? How does one objectively define representations of Japan?” In order to
answer this question, the two actions of
“preservation” and “abolishment” must be re-evaluated. “Preservation”
signifies the keeping of old values. However, in actuality, the Japanese government abolished shrines in the name
of “preservation”. Shrines that were deemed unorganized and miscellaneous, were not considered “Japanese.”
It
is ironic that such acts of abolishment and destruction were part of the “preservation” process of creating and
defining a national identity.
2-3. The politics of “preserving”
With the Government’s filtering out of Buddhism, many Buddhist art forms were destroyed and lost. In order
to counter this loss of cultural heritage, the first law to preserve the traditional arts was enacted in 1871. And in
1897, during the second phase of reconstruction, the Government enacted a second law to outline the procedures
of preserving the antiquities and fine arts of Japan. It is interesting to note that at this time, Okakura Tenshin,
recognizing the value inherent in traditional Japanese art, collected and preserved much of it, on his own accord.
These newly enacted Government’s policies resulted in the transformation of the function of traditional
religious space. For example, a Buddhist sculpture traditionally found within religious spaces, was relocated to the
abstract context of the museum. In other words, with the new system of evaluating traditional art forms, sacred
spaces and objects became mere classifications, devoid of meaning and context. It meant that Japanese religious
spaces were separated by new system of value, art and architecture. Further, by this institution, the action of
preserving of remains or historic sites was generalized all over the country.
It is important that by the generalization of the concept of “preservation”, people became to need higher
concept that was good ground for their “preserving”. At the opposite aspect, “Japan” became founded much more
through this process.
3. Forest and Architecture
Minakata Kumagusu and Itoh Chuta were born in the same year, in 1967. The philosophical positions of
Kumagusu and Chuta were worlds apart in regards to the situation of shrine reconstruction and destruction. Chuta
was the authority on the building of new and bigger shrines. On the other hand, Kumagusu opposed the
destruction of old and smaller shrine. In the other words,
Chuta upheld government’s policies and played an
important role in the national undertaking of systematic
destruction while Kumagusu fought against the national
system in the name of “preservation”.
3-1. The architecture of Itoh Chuta
Itoh Chuta designed many Shinto shrines. Prime
examples include the Heian Shrine and the Meiji Shrine.
In designing the Meiji Shrine, Chuta insisted on
incorporating modern materials such as concrete.
However, faced with opposition, in the end, he chose the
traditional design of “nagare-zukuri.”[7] Although Chuta
incorporated traditional Japanese design in his religious
structures, in his other projects, he preferred designs that
mixed European taste with that of Japanese[8].
As a
result, he was often criticized as “betraying” Japanese
tradition. Still, Chuta believed and asserted that Japan
should incorporate the styles and tastes of the world at
Fig.3 The Meiji Shrine
large rather than focusing too much on the concept of “Japanese Purity.”
Despite his actions, it is somewhat paradoxical that Chuta maintained
that shrines as primitive forms of architecture needed to utilize traditional
forms. Yet, at the same time, in his own projects, he designed architectural
spaces in a mixture of style ranging from Indian to Saracen to European.
3-2.The image of “Japan” as architecture
As mentioned above, the Ise Shrine was ranked at the top within the
hierarchy of shrines. So important was this ranking, that the Ise Shrine
became the symbol of “Japanese Purity.”[9] The primary character of the Ise
Shrine is that it transfers its main shrine to a neighboring land every twenty
years. This act of transferring an architectural structure is a symbolic
Fig.4 Nishi-Honganji Dendoin
One of Chuta’s works that is
mixed many style of countries
relocating of gods from one area to another and was often followed by
festivals. The festivals to move gods are often seen in primitive religious
style. When people started to build permanent religious architecture, the style
that two main shrines stand side by side. It is the Ise Shrine to
repeat the origin of architecture every this ceremony. Therefore,
many theorists, like Bluno Taut, found the Ise Shrine to be
representative of the purest architectural form. By rebuilding
itself every twenty years, the Ise Shrine was repeating the act of
creation while staying true to its traditional form.
And, as a
result, became the conduit through which the representation of
Japanese purity was disseminated
3-3. The practice and thought of Minakata Kumagusu
Minakata Kumagusu was a botanist and philosopher who
opposed to the destruction of sacred forests and shrine in the
second phase of “abolishing”. Kumagusu respected sacredness
that people could feel by being in nature. However, as mentioned
above, the sacred spaces in daily life were abolished thoroughly.
Kumagusu got angry about these situations. He said that people
could be spiritually awakened by feeling scenery without words.
He thought how important the sacred spaces were for spirit and
society and environment[10]. He felt that the concept of “pure
Japan” was abolishing that sacredness.
Kumagusu insisted that the sacred spaces had being abolished
in the times should be kept and there was no need to build
monuments that didn’t have sacred nature in the name of
“preservation”. This recognition can be respected as paradoxical
situation of conceptual creating of space that the concept of
“preservation” caused.
Kumagusu said, ”A scenery is a mandala.”[11] The mandara
Fig. 5 The intervention of bodies in the
space
means whole universe in esoteric Buddhism. This phrase can be understood as that. Scenery is just a limited space.
However, people can grasp the meaning and history of this space. By feeling the scenery, the meaning of space is
impressed on the soul. Then people are able to know the world as a whole. It was the possibility of relation
between people’s soul and space that Kumagusu would protect.
3-4. The freedom of soul for space
People used to commune with nature in the serenity of sacred forests and of shrines. However, as a result of
public policy, these sacred spaces were not only forced to change but fought decimation. Shrines that were a part
of people’s souls became just one more representation in a nation obsessed with identifying and defining national
symbols..
This situation was quite different from the traditional relationship in which people exchanged meaning with
space. A illustrated in Figure 5. The interference of body A adds new meaning to the space that already had sacred
meaning. At the same time body A further enhances and attaches meanings to that space. With the interference of
body B, the space again undergoes transformation. By repeating these exchanges, various meanings accumulate in
space, A,B,C…. This continual process of merging and re-emerging, leads to not only a confounding but a change
in meaning. And what arises out of this layering and re-layering of meaning, is the history of space and its
accumulated forms of meaning.
4. Conclusion
“Preserving” went side by side with “abolishing” of the forests of shrines. This paradox resulted from
recognition of the object of “preserving” that didn’t contain the traditional religious space.
The modernization of space was under way in close relation of “abolishment” and “preservation”. Through this
process, the traditional spaces were decomposed into vernacular and mediocre places devoid of religious meaning.
It is interested that the concept of “preservation” ignores the worth of space that deviate from outline of
“preservation”. However many spaces of deviation make essential relation between nature and human being grow.
In the space of deviation, people feel sacredness from the spaces. And at present, they are the spaces of deviation
making people commune with nature that we need to respect again.
Acknowledgment
I am grateful to Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research to accomplish this research.
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