Gatehouse to Shrine
(Enoshima Island, Fujisawa, Kanagawa Pref., Japan)
Zuishinmon, the gatehouse at the top of the first set of stairs, just past the grand torii gate, is modeled after the mythical Dragon King Castle (Ryugu-jo) that is depicted in the Japanese folktale “Urashima Taro.”
The kanji characters used for Zuishinmon (瑞心門) literally mean “pure” + “heart” + “gate” and named as such in hope that the hearts of visitors will be purified as they pass through the gate as they approach the shrines atop the island.
In this shot, we can also enjoy the sight of chochin paper lanterns that have been put out for the New Year’s holidays and used to light up the winding stairs leading to the top of the island.
Pentax K-1 II + DFA 28-105mm F3.5-5.6
28 mm ISO 100 for 1 sec. at ƒ/22
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Casa Batlló, Barcelona, Spain
@Ken4photo
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Hongkong (by Sebastian Dahler)
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Empire State Building, New York City
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Three Subordinate Shrines
(Hiratsuka Hachimangu Shrine, Kanagawa Pref., Japan)
Shinmeisha Shrine (神明社)
The small shrine on the left enshrines three deities of success and prosperity in business.
Wakamiya Shrine (若宮社)
The slightly larger shrine in the center enshrines a guardian deity for parenting and children.
Suwa Shrine (諏訪社)
The small shrine on the right enshrines a deity of good luck and traffic safety.
All three shrines have an ancient style of Shinto shrine architecture with forked finials called chigi (千木) that extend out and above the roofline.
An old document from the year 804 references the prescribed dimensions of the finials, which have both a structural and decorative purpose.
Open-ended slots at the ends of the finials indicate that a female deity is enshrined, where a vertical slot indicates a male deity being enshrined.
Pentax K-1 II + DFA 28-105mm F3.5-5.6
28 mm ISO 100 for 8 sec. at ƒ/10
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Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, Germany,
@lightmixphot0
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