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Updated: May 26, 2025
The torii may be small or great according to the wealth of him who gives it; the very rich pilgrim may offer to the gods a torii of metal, such as that below, which is the Gate of Enoshima. 'Akira, do the Japanese always keep their vows to the gods? Akira smiles a sweet smile, and answers: 'There was a man who promised to build a torii of good metal if his prayers were granted.
All of bronze it is, with shimenawa of bronze above it, and a brazen tablet inscribed with characters declaring: 'This is the Palace of the Goddess of Enoshima. About the bases of the ponderous pillars are strange designs in relievo, eddyings of waves with tortoises struggling in the flow.
For verily 'tis the City of Mother-of-Pearl, this Enoshima. In every shop, behind the' lettered draperies there are miracles of shell-work for sale at absurdly small prices.
And our path turns sharply to the right, and winds along cliff-summits overlooking a broad beach of dun-coloured sand; and the sea wind blows deliciously with a sweet saline scent, urging the lungs to fill themselves to the very utmost; and far away before me, I perceive a beautiful high green mass, an island foliage-covered, rising out of the water about a quarter of a mile from the mainland Enoshima, the holy island, sacred to the goddess of the sea, the goddess of beauty.
We had luncheon at a pretty seaside hotel, Kamakura now being a Summer resort. Afterwards we took a tram for the Sacred Island of Enoshima. Arriving at the village of Katse, we walked across to the island. Enoshima presents a high wooded aspect, and through the foliage on the heights one can obtain glimpses of many tea-houses.
On the right more steps, another torii, another terrace; and more mossed green lions and stone lamps; and a monument inscribed with the record of the change whereby Enoshima passed away from Buddhism to become Shino. Beyond, in the centre of another plateau, the second shrine of Benten. But there is no Benten! Benten has been hidden away by Shinto hands. The second shrine is void as the first.
There is shell-work jewellery indescribable, things that Japanese girls love, enchantments in mother-of-pearl, hair-pins carven in a hundred forms, brooches, necklaces. And there are photographs of Enoshima. This curious street ends at another torii, a wooden torii, with a steeper flight of stone steps ascending to it.
We follow him to the next terrace, where there is a school for the children of Enoshima, and another sacred stone, huge and shapeless: Fuku-ishi, the Stone of Good Fortune. In old times pilgrims who rubbed their hands upon it believed they would thereby gain riches; and the stone is polished and worn by the touch of innumerable palms.
In almost every province there are famous stones supposed to be sacred or haunted, or to possess miraculous powers, such as the Women's Stone at the temple of Hachiman at Kamakura, and the Sessho-seki, or Death Stone of Nasu, and the Wealth-giving Stone at Enoshima, to which pilgrims pay reverence.
We have reached Kitzuki, the holy city. Over a long bridge and under a tall torii we roll into upward-sloping streets. Like Enoshima, Kitzuki has a torii for its city gate; but the torii is not of bronze.
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