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
Enoshima Grand Torii Gate
(Enoshima Island, Fujisawa, Kanagawa Pref., Japan)
At the end of the Benzaiten Nakamise-dori Street, the Grand Torii gate of Enoshima Shrine will quickly come into view.
The vivid, vermilion lacquered torii is the gateway to the large Enoshima Shrine complex that consists of three main shrines located at the top of a winding set of stairs.
The original vermilion torii gate was built 1805, and rebuilt in 1936 as a gift from Toshiko Hayashi–the headmistress of the Yamada School of Koto (a Japanese half-tube zither instrument that has thirteen strings made of twisted silk), which was founded sometime between 1781 and 1801.
Pentax K-1 II + DFA 28-105mm F3.5-5.6
37 mm ISO 100 for 30 sec. at ƒ/29