Sannō Shrine Audio Guide

Sannō Shrine: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Sanno Shrine

   Welcome to Sannō Shrine, in the Urakami district of Nagasaki. It is a quiet Shinto shrine, and it holds one of the most arresting images of the city's story: a stone gateway standing on a single leg. The shrine sits roughly 800 to 900 meters from the point above which the atomic bomb exploded on the ninth of August, 1945. Its name, Sannō, means mountain king. The shrine is about 2 kilometers north of Nagasaki station, and the gateway at its entrance is known across the city as the one-legged torii. Over the next few minutes we will look at how this shrine began in 1638, what happened to its gateways and trees in 1945, and why it still matters as a place of memory and peace. Stay with me, because the oldest part of the story starts with a general looking at a hillside and thinking of a mountain near Kyoto.

2. 02

   A General, a Rebellion and a Mountain Look-Alike

   The shrine's founding goes back to 1638. That year a civil war broke out in Shimabara, about 50 kilometers east of Nagasaki, and the government sent Matsudaira Nobutsuna from the Edo area as general of its forces. He lived from 1596 to 1662. Passing through this district, he noticed that the landscape resembled Mount Hiei, near Kyoto. So he urged the local governor of Nagasaki to build a shrine here. It was to be a branch of Hiyoshi Taisha, the great shrine on Mount Hiei, which is nicknamed Sannō Gongen. That is how this shrine came to carry the name Sannō. That Mount Hiei link places the shrine in a wider tradition. Hiyoshi Taisha has deep ties to the Tendai sect, and Sannō worship spread throughout Japan. This Nagasaki shrine belongs to that family. The Urakami district around it also has a long history as a stage for the persecution of Christians during the Edo period, so layers of Nagasaki's past sit very close together here.

3. 03

   The One-Legged Torii

   Now to the famous gateway. The shrine once had four torii gates. When the bomb exploded in 1945, the first and second gates remained standing, which in itself was remarkable given how close they were to the blast. The first torii did not last. It was destroyed in a vehicle accident in 1962 and was removed. The second torii had been split in half by the blast, and it still stands on its remaining pillar. People in Nagasaki simply call it the One-legged Torii. Take a moment with it. A torii marks the threshold between the everyday world and sacred ground, and here the threshold itself carries the marks of that day. Visitors can see it from outside the fence, and the city's official visitor guide describes it as a reminder of the tragedy. Even now, many years later, it is one of the strongest ways Nagasaki keeps the memory of the bombing in front of people.

4. 04

   The Camphor Trees That Came Back

   Near the entrance to the main shrine stand two great camphor trees, estimated to be somewhere between 400 and 600 years old. They were already ancient when the bomb fell. The shock wave scorched them and stripped them of every leaf. More than a third of the trees was blown away, and what remained was burned black. Yet after about two years, new leaf buds appeared. People in Nagasaki took heart from that, and the two trees became known as the atomic bomb survivor camphor trees. They are designated natural monuments of Nagasaki City, which recognizes them as historical and cultural assets as well as living trees. Their story reached beyond the city. A singer named Fukuyama used a song and related live shows to raise donations for the care of the shrine's camphor trees and other trees that survived the bomb. The city used that money to establish the Kusunoki Foundation, which works to preserve Nagasaki's atomic bombed trees and to teach the history connected with them. So when you look up into the branches, you are looking at something people are still actively looking after.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   Sannō Shrine is easy to fold into a walk through this part of Nagasaki. It lies near the Nagasaki University Hospital, and from there a short walk brings you to the foot of the stairs leading up to the shrine. Hypocenter Park is about a 10 to 15 minute walk away, so the two sites pair naturally. Once you are inside, you can offer a prayer in the traditional way: toss a coin, clap your hands and ring the bell. The grounds also have well-kept paths lined with stone lanterns, with views of the city. As you wander, see what you notice. Compare the single standing pillar of the torii with the trees behind it, one a broken stone gate and the other living wood that grew new leaves. Then think about why a shrine begun in 1638 because a hillside reminded a general of Mount Hiei now speaks so clearly about peace. The longer you stay, the more this small place seems to say.