Torii

Traditional Japanese gateway

A torii (Japanese: 鳥居; [to.ɾi.i]) is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of, or within, a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred, and a spot where kami are welcomed and thought to travel through. The presence of a torii at the entrance is usually the simplest way to identify a Shinto shrine, and a small torii-shaped icon is used to represent shrines on Japanese maps. The first appearance of torii gates in Japan can be reliably pinpointed to at least the mid-Heian period; they are mentioned in a text written in 922.

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