Re: Thursday Trivia

Ken Oakley-Sunny St. Cloud, Fla

Don't remember what it is called but it is in Japan. I think at the entrance to a Shinto Temple.

Re: Thursday Trivia

Bill Earl

I'll recuse myself on this one. My mother-in-law lives a few blocks from this shrine:

There are some large ones at the entrance, and thousands of small ones all the way up the mountainside.

Re: Thursday Trivia

Gary Smyth

Others got the place . It starts with a "To"

Answer

Dan Donaldson

everyone got it. They are torii gates (stands loosely for "bird perch") and are used at the entrances to temples in Japan. It was kind of interesting to me because I have a granddaughter named Victoria, but we call her Tori.

My  Daughter is named Victoria

Ken Oakley-Sunny St. Cloud, Fla

Most people call her Vickie, ( I hate that), my wife calls her Toria, but I myself only call her Victoria. I did see those structures when I spent a few months in Kyoto, in 1954.

Re: Answer

Bill Earl

鳥居

"Bird Perch" is a pretty good translation. The first character is "tori" or "bird". The second character "i" (pronounced "e") can mean a dwelling, to sit, or just to be present.

The Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto has thousands of torii spanning a network of paths up the mountainside behind the main shrine. Local businesses purchase torii with their name on them to show thanks for success. There are a bunch of small woodshops near the base of the mountain that do a very good business making torii.