(1 Jun 2025)
JAPAN MINIATURE SHRINE
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
RESTRICTIONS:
LENGTH: 5:111
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tamaki, Japan – 1 May 2025
1. Various of worker cutting thatch roof of a miniature shrine
2. Various of miniature replicas of Ise Jingu shrine at Miyachu factory
3. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Yosuke Kawanishi, managing director at Miyachu:
“A kamidana is like a small shrine used to enshrine a deity at home or in a workplace. Without having to visit a shrine, you can worship the deity at your home or inside a building.”
4. Various of craftsmen making ‘Ise no Shinden’ -- a kamidana modelled after the 'Yuiitsu Shinmei-zukuri' style of shrine architecture used at Ise Jingu
5. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Yosuke Kawanishi, managing director at Miyachu:
“Ise Jingu uses a unique architectural style called Yuiitsu Shinmei-zukuri, which is exclusive to the shrine. So, the kamidana we make in Ise are designed to replicate that distinctive style."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ise, Japan – 1 May 2025
6. Entrance to the inner shrine of Ise Jingu
7. Thatch roof of one of the shrines at Ise Jingu complex
8. Various of Miyachu’s miniature shrines mimicking Ise Jingu’s unique architectural style
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tamaki, Japan – 1 May 2025
9. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Yosuke Kawanishi, managing director at Miyachu:
“The most prominent features are the thatched roof, and that it uses cypress wood from Kiso.”
10. Craftsman cutting grass with shears for shrine’s thatch roof
11. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Yosuke Kawanishi, managing director at Miyachu:
“(During the Edo period,) many people came to Ise to worship and receive sacred talismans or ‘ofuda’. Naturally, this created a need for kamidana — household altars to enshrine the ofuda. That’s when kamidana began to spread across the country.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ise, Japan – 1 May 2025
12. Various of visitors at the inner shrine complex of Ise Jingu
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tamaki, Japan – 1 May 2025
13. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Yosuke Kawanishi, managing director at Miyachu:
“In Ise, there used to be people called Onshi, who were like representatives of the Jingu. They also held positions as Shinto priests. They would travel across the country distributing sacred talismans from Ise Jingu. Rather than simply affixing the ofuda to the wall, they promoted the practice of enshrining it properly in a kamidana, encouraging more respectful and careful worship. That’s my understanding of how kamidana came to be widely adopted across Japan."
14. Craftsman Hiroshi Kawanishi, also a younger brother of Yosuke, working
15. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Hiroshi Kawanishi, craftsman at Miyachu:
“People want to treat the shrine that welcomes the deity with sincerity and respect, I think that’s why people come all the way to Ise and choose us.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ise, Japan – 1 May 2025
16. Various of miniature shrines inside Miyachu shop
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tamaki, Japan – 1 May 2025
17. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Hiroshi Kawanishi, craftsman at Miyachu:
“Not many people do my job. It’s a job that requires certain skills and time to acquire those skills.”
18. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Yosuke Kawanishi, managing director at Miyachu:
“Traditional crafts in Japan are facing a real crisis, with many successors disappearing. It’s definitely a very tough industry.”
19. Various of new line of contemporary kamidana at Miyachu
20. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Yosuke Kawanishi, managing director at Miyachu:
21. Various of craftsman cutting thatch roof of miniature shrine
STORYLINE:
LEADIN:
In Japan’s spiritual heartland, tradition meets craftsmanship in miniature form.
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