Komainu

{{Short description|Statues mainly found in Shinto shrines}} {{italic title}} thumb|260px|A pair of ''komainu'', the "a" on the right, the "um" on the left

{{nihongo|'''''Komainu'''''|狛犬}}, often called '''lion-dogs''' in English, are statue pairs of lion-like creatures, which traditionally guard the entrance or gate of the shrine, or placed in front of or within the ''honden'' (inner sanctum) of Japanese Shinto shrines.

== Symbolic meaning == {{Further|Japanese Buddhism}} thumb|left|An ''un-gyō'' ''komainu''

A pair of ''komainu'' (construable as "Korean dog"<ref name="shamoon2013"/>) or ''shishi'' ("lion")/''karajishi'' ("Chinese lion") are the typical stone-made creatures associated with gatekeeping on Shinto shrine grounds.<ref name="metevelis1994"/><ref name="nanzan1966"/>

Meant to ward off evil spirits, modern ''komainu'' statues are usually near identical except for the shapes of their mouths: one has it open, the other closed (however, exceptions exist, where both ''komainu'' have their mouth either open or closed<ref name="yahoo">Shogakukan Encyclopedia, ''Komainu''</ref>). The two forms are called {{nihongo|''a-gyō''|阿形||{{lit|"a" shape}}}} for the open mouthed statue, symbolically representing the beginning of all things, and {{nihongo|''un-gyō''|吽形||{{lit|"un" shape}}}} for the closed mouth statue, symbolically representing the end of all things. Collectively they are known as ''a-un''<ref name="kojien">Iwanami {{nihongo|Kōjien|広辞苑}} Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version</ref> and together, they symbolically represent the beginning and the end of all things.<ref name="jaanus a-un">{{Cite web |year=2001 |title="A un" (阿吽) |url=https://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/a/aun.htm |access-date=14 April 2011 |publisher=Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System}}</ref> The iconography<ref name="shamoon2013"/> and symbolism were imported, and not native to Shintoism.<ref name="nanzan1966"/> The ''a-un'' symbolism is the same symbolism as that which is associated with the Niō, the two Buddhist gatekeeper deities.<ref name="cali&dougill2012"/><ref name="soymie1966"/>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|This is a very common characteristic in religious statue pairs at both temples and shrines. The pattern is Buddhist in origin (see the article about the Niō, human-form guardians of Buddhist temples) and has a symbolic meaning: The open mouth is pronouncing the first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet, which is pronounced "a", while the closed one is uttering the last letter, which is pronounced "um", to represent the beginning and the end of all things.<ref name="jaanus a-un|">JAANUS, [https://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/a/aun.htm A un], accessed on July 10, 2010</ref> Together they form the sound Aum, a syllable sacred in several religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.}}

== History == [[Image:China emeishan lion.jpg|thumb|upright|A statue of a guardian lion looking over Mount Emei, China]]

=== Origins === In Asia, the lion was popularly believed to have the power to repel evil, and for this reason it was habitually used to guard gates and doors. The ''Komainu'' strongly resemble Chinese guardian lions and in fact originate from Tang dynasty China.<ref name="EOS Komainu">Encyclopedia of Shinto, Komainu</ref> The Chinese guardian lions are believed to have been influenced by Asiatic lion pelts and lion depictions introduced through trade from either the Middle East or India, countries where the lion existed and was a symbol of strength.<ref name=col>Shisa Travelogue, [http://www.wonder-okinawa.jp/011/english/roots/world/rw01/rw01.html Culture of the lion around the world; roots of the shisa] {{webarchive | url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091009064358/http://www.wonder-okinawa.jp/011/english/roots/world/rw01/rw01.html | date= October 9, 2009 }}</ref> During its transportation along the Silk Road, however, the symbol changed{{Citation needed|reason=Sources needed to support this claim about this "Silkroad" change|date=January 2019}}, acquiring a distinctive look. The first lion statue in India appears around the 3rd century BC on top of a column erected by King Ashoka.<ref name=col/> The tradition later arrived in China where it developed into the guardian lion that was later exported to Korea, Japan, and Okinawa. During the Nara period (710–794), as in the rest of Asia, the pair always consisted of two lions.<ref name="knm">Kyoto National Museum Dictionary</ref> Used only indoors until the 14th century, they were made mainly of wood. During the Heian period (794–1185), for example, wooden or metal pairs were employed as weights and door-stops, while at the Imperial Palace they were used to support screens or folding screens.

=== Heian period === The custom of placing wooden, and later stone representations of the kara-inu and lions were established no later than the mid-Heian period (tenth century), though precise dating remains uncertain.<ref name="kobayashi2021"/>

Perhaps as early as the earlier part of the Heian period (ninth century), the tradition changed and the two statues started to be different and be called differently. One had its mouth open and was called {{nihongo|''shishi''|獅子||{{lit|lion}}}} because, as before, it resembled that animal. The other had its mouth closed, looked rather like a dog, was called ''komainu'', or "Goguryeo dog", and sometimes had a single horn on its head. Gradually the animals returned to be identical, but for their mouths, and ended up being called both ''komainu''.<ref name="jaanus komainu">JAANUS, [https://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/k/komainu.htm Komainu], accessed on July 16, 2010</ref>

Eventually they were also became apotropaic objects protecting Buddhist temples,<ref name="cali&dougill2012"/><ref name="kobayashi2021"/> royal palaces,<ref name="kobayashi2021"/> nobility residences or even private homes.<ref name="bennett&newland2009"/> A pair of these dogs are painted on the front walls of the ''honden'' (inner sanctuary) at the Kamo-wakeikazuchi Shrine, but such painted examples are rare, possibly unique.{{sfnp|Cali|Dougill|2012|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=J1gEEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA116 116]}}

According to one reckoning, the ''komainu'' have been used outdoors only since the 14th century.<ref name="knm"/> In Japan, too, it ended up being installed at the entrance of shrines and temples next to the lion-dog.<ref name="YAHOO shishi">Shogakukan Encyclopedia, ''Shishi''</ref> As a protection against exposure to Japan's rainy weather, the ''komainu'' started being carved in stone.

=== Edo period === Starting in the Edo period the ''komainu'' began to be placed at the ''sandō'' (tr. "avenues of approach"<ref name="metevelis1994"/> to the shrine) and are now categorized as {{nihongo|''sandō komainu''|参道狛犬||{{lit|entrance-road Komainu}}}}. The much older type are called {{nihongo|''jinnai komainu''|陣内狛犬||{{lit|komainu within [the shrine]'s premises}}}}.<ref>Kotera, pages 1 and 2</ref> They can sometimes be found also at Buddhist temples, nobility residences or even private homes.

Starting from the Edo period (1603–1868) other animals have been used instead of lions or dogs, among others wild boars, tigers, dragons and foxes.

== Parallels == === Foxes at Inari shrines === [[File:Kagamiyama-jinja Honden.jpg|thumb|A pair of foxes at an Inari shrine]]

A variant of the ''komainu'' theme is the fox, acting as guardian of shrines dedicated to the Inari deity.<ref name="cali&dougill2012"/> There are about 30 thousand Inari shrines in Japan, and the entrance of each is guarded by a pair of fox statues.<ref name="scheid"/> Often one, and sometimes both, has a sūtra roll, a key or a jewel in its mouth (sūtras are Buddhist texts, a fact which attests to the Buddhist origins of the Inari cult<ref name="scheid"/><ref>On the fusion of Shintō and Buddhism, see the article Shinbutsu shūgō</ref>). The statues do not symbolize the animals' proverbial malice, but the magic powers they are believed to possess. Sometimes the guardians are painted, and in that case they are always white.<ref name="scheid"/> White foxes are messengers of the ''kami'', who is sometimes himself believed to be, and portrayed as, a fox.<ref name="scheid">Scheid, Inari Fuchswächter</ref> Although visible genitals are rare, the left fox is believed to be male, the right one female.<ref name="smyers">Smyers (1999:229)</ref>

Often the foxes wear red votive bibs similar to those worn by statues of other figures: for example, the Buddhist bodhisattva figure Jizō. In this case, however, the bibs seem to be purely a rite, whose origins are unclear.

=== Okinawan shīsā === The {{nihongo|''shīsā''|シーサー}}, the stone animals that in Okinawa guard the gates or the roofs of houses, are close relatives of the ''shishi'' and the ''komainu'', objects whose origin, function and symbolic meaning they share.<ref name="shisa">Shisa Travelogue, [http://www.wonder-okinawa.jp/011/english/roots/world/rw03/rw03.html The Chinese lion-Guardian dogs] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091008014542/http://www.wonder-okinawa.jp/011/english/roots/world/rw03/rw03.html |date=October 8, 2009 }}</ref> Their name itself is centuries old regional variant of {{nihongo|''shishi-san''|獅子さん||{{lit|Mr. Lion}}}}.<ref name="kojien"/>

== Gallery == {{gallery |File:A-un-pair.jpg|''A-un'' pair of ''komainu''; "a" on the right, "un" on the left |File:Shinomiya jinja komainu with a horn on its head.jpg|A ''komainu'' with a horn on its head |File:Okinawan shīsā.jpg|An Okinawan ''shīsā'' |File:Inari-kitsune fox in front of an Inari shrine with a key in its mouth.jpg|A fox in front of an Inari shrine with a key in its mouth |File:Numazu Aratama Inari Jinja.jpg|Pair of fox guardians with kit at Numazu Aratama Inari Jinja |File:Numazu Aratama Inari Jinja Fox Guardian Right Male.jpg|Detail view of the right fox guardian of the shrine Aratama Inari Jinja in Numazu with visible male genitalia |File:Numazu Aratama Inari Jinja Fox Guardian Left Female.jpg|Detail view of the left fox guardian of the shrine Aratama Inari Jinja in Numazu with kit |File:Toyohashi Saikouji Komainu.jpg|Komainu outside the gate of Saikouji in Toyohashi |File:Toyohashi Saikouji Komainu Left Female.jpg|Detail view of left Komainu outside the gate of Saikouji in Toyohashi with cub |File:Wake Jinja guardian wild boar koma-inoshishi Agyo-right.jpg|A guardian wild boar |File:Tamon'in Tokorozawa guardian komatora (狛虎) Agyo-right.jpg|A guardian {{nihongo|''komatora''|狛虎}} |File:Komainu at Tozan Shrine in Arita, Saga Prefecture, made of porcelain.jpg|A komainu at Tozan Shrine in Arita, Saga Prefecture, is made of porcelain. }}

== See also == {{Portal|Japan|Animals}} * Chinese guardian lions * Chinthe * Kitsune * Nio * Xiezhi

== Explanatory notes == {{Notelist}}

== References == === Citations === {{Reflist|2|refs= <ref name="bennett&newland2009">{{cite book|last1=Bennett |first1=James |author1-link=Jim Bennett (historian) |last2=Newland |first2=Amy Reigle |author2-link= |title=The Golden Journey: Japanese Art from Australian Collections, Art Gallery of South Australia |publisher=Art Gallery of South Australia |year=2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X4UOAQAAMAAJ&q=%22komainu%22 |page=40 |isbn=9780730830399}}</ref>

<ref name="cali&dougill2012">{{cite book|last1=Cali|first1=Joseph |author1-link= |last2=Dougill |first2=John |author2-link= |chapter= |title=Shinto Shrines: A Guide to the Sacred Sites of Japan's Ancient Religion |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |year=2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J1gEEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA37 |page=37|isbn=9780824837754}}</ref>

<ref name="kobayashi2021">{{cite journal|last=Kobayashi |first=Fumihiko |author-link= |title=Symbolic Representations of Apotropaic Power in Edo-Era Japan (1603–1868)|journal= Western Folklore |volume=80 |number=2 |publisher= |date=Spring 2021 |url=https://dl.ndl.go.jp/contents/10209324/214bbe1f-7228-4303-89fa-b839a4938a18/3ee58549-f76e-4518-ae2f-0678a482a573/3ee58549-f76e-4518-ae2f-0678a482a573.pdf |pages=186–187 |jstor=27152305}}</ref>

<ref name="metevelis1994">{{cite journal|last=Metevelis |first=Peter |author-link= |title=Shinto shrines or Shinto temples? |journal=Asian Folklore Studies |volume=53 |number=2 |publisher= |date=1994 |url=https://dl.ndl.go.jp/contents/10209324/214bbe1f-7228-4303-89fa-b839a4938a18/3ee58549-f76e-4518-ae2f-0678a482a573/3ee58549-f76e-4518-ae2f-0678a482a573.pdf |page=340 |doi=10.2307/1178650 |jstor=1178650 }}</ref>

<ref name="nanzan1966">{{cite journal|last= |first= |author-link= |title=Shinto Symbols |journal=Contemporary Religions in Japan |volume=7 |number=1 |publisher=Nanzan University |date=March 1966 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eqPjAAAAMAAJ&q=%22koma+inu%22 |at=p. 16 and n22 |jstor=30232983}}</ref>

<ref name="shamoon2013">{{cite journal|last=Shamoon |first=Deborah |author-link= |title=Notes d'iconographie chinoise : les acolytes de Ti-tsang |journal=Marvels & Tales |volume=27 |number=2 The Fairy Tale in Japan |publisher= |date=2013 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eqPjAAAAMAAJ&q=%22koma+inu%22 |at=n7 |doi=10.13110/marvelstales.27.2.0276 |jstor=10.13110/marvelstales.27.2.0276|s2cid=161932208 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

<ref name="soymie1966">{{cite journal|last=Soymié |first=Michel |author-link=Michel Soymié |title=Notes d'iconographie chinoise : les acolytes de Ti-tsang |journal=Arts Asiatiques |volume=14 |publisher= |date=1966 |doi=10.3406/arasi.1966.958 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kEvrAAAAMAAJ&q=%22komainu%22 |at=p.52, n(2) |jstor=43485272 |lang=fr|url-access=subscription }}</ref> }}

=== General and cited references === {{refbegin}} * {{cite web|title=JAANUS|url=http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/|publisher=on-line Dictionary of Japanese Architectural and Art Historical Terminology}} * {{cite web|title=Lion-dogs|url=http://www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/dictio/data/choukoku/komainu.htm|publisher=Kyoto National Museum Dictionary|access-date=16 July 2010|archive-date=3 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091203105611/http://www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/dictio/data/choukoku/komainu.htm|url-status=dead}} * {{cite encyclopedia|last=Mihashi|first=Ken|title=Komainu|url=http://100.yahoo.co.jp/detail/%E7%8B%9B%E7%8A%AC/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130218171120/http://100.yahoo.co.jp/detail/%E7%8B%9B%E7%8A%AC/|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 February 2013|encyclopedia=Shogakukan Encyclopedia online|publisher=Yahoo|access-date=16 July 2010|language=ja}} * {{cite web|last=Kanechiku|first=Nobuyuki|title=Shishi|url=http://100.yahoo.co.jp/detail/%E7%8D%85%E5%AD%90/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130218235101/http://100.yahoo.co.jp/detail/%E7%8D%85%E5%AD%90/|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 February 2013|publisher=Shogakukan Encyclopedia online|access-date=16 July 2010|language=ja}} * {{cite web|url=http://japanese-religions.jp/publications/assets/JR_34_1_a_Kotera.pdf|title=Komainu|last=Kotera|first=Yoshiaki|publisher=Japanese Religions|language=ja|access-date=31 July 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719232805/http://japanese-religions.jp/publications/assets/JR_34_1_a_Kotera.pdf|archive-date=19 July 2011}} * {{cite encyclopedia|last=Nakayama|first=Kaoru|title=Komainu|url=http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=259|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Shinto|publisher=Kokugakuin University|access-date=27 December 2010}} * {{cite web|last=Scheid, Bernhard|author-link=Bernhard Scheid|title=Inari Fuchswächter |url=https://www.univie.ac.at/rel_jap/mythen/bilder_inari_kitsune.htm|publisher=University of Vienna|access-date=30 July 2010|language=de}} * {{cite web|title=Shisa Travelogue|url=http://www.wonder-okinawa.jp/011/english/|publisher=Okinawa Prefectural Government|access-date=18 July 2010}} * {{cite book|last = Smyers, Karen Ann|author-link = Karen Ann Smyers|title = The Fox and the Jewel: Shared and Private Meanings in Contemporary Japanese Inari Worship|publisher = University of Hawaii Press|year = 1999|location = Honolulu|isbn = 0-8248-2102-5|oclc = 231775156}} {{refend}}

== External links == * {{Commons category inline}} * {{Commons category inline|Inari fox statues}}

{{Shinto shrine}} {{Buddhist temples in Japan}} {{Japanese architectural elements}} {{Japanese folklore long}} {{Authority control}}

Category:Buddhist architecture Category:Japanese architectural features Category:Japanese Buddhist architecture Category:Japanese legendary creatures Category:Mythological canines Category:Mythological dogs Category:Mythological lions Category:Objects believed to protect from evil Category:Sculptures of lions Category:Shinto religious objects Category:Chinese lions