ARCHITECTURAL –SPIRITUAL-COMMERCIAL CONSUMPTION

The Fushimi Inari shrine is the head shrine of the largest shrine network in Japan today, and the shrine is dedicated to the kami Inari, patron of agriculture and business. The shrine is perhaps most famous for its torii paths, which are lined with hundreds of torii, creating an orange corridor for worshippers on their way to the various small shrines that dot the mountain. Each torii is purchased by a certain business hoping for Inari’s patronage and protection. At Fushimi Inari, an entire culture exists to sell charms of various levels to worshippers hoping to gain Inari’s favor. At the low end, one can purchase a name tag or a miniature torii for a couple of hundred yen. These are then hung at certain places. At the high end, one can purchase a real life sized torii for hundreds of thousands of yen. These purchase comprise the entire architectural landscape. The real life sized torii form the corridors of mountain trails; the smaller one necessitate bulletin board like structures to hold and display them. The head shrine located at the foot of the mountain serves to draw worshippers in, and the torii lined paths serve as both tourist attractions and guiding channels for worshippers of various smaller shrines.

This mechanism of architectural production and survival (as there will always be businesses looking to purchase one for good fortune) has been in place for a very long time and really is a survival mechanism founded on a certain spiritual desire of the worshippers that is eternally human and perpetually extent. In other words, these torii architecture will always remain and grow (i.e. survive) for as long as people believe in the power of Inari (even for lack of a better alternative). The tectonic strategy is almost akin to the metabolist mode, where you simply have a bunch of premade units that you simply add on as you require. This is perhaps a super species strategy, as there seems to be no sign of decay for these torii. It’s just as easy to put one up should one fall down, and the mechanism seems to be going strong. It’s interesting to note that where traditional building survival is realized, some sort of commercial incentive is in place. Except at Fushimi Inari Daisho, the commercial incentive is ultimately spiritual.