Abstract
"Originally a Shinto shrine has nothing but a mirror (a symbolic representation of the deity). The mirror exists for people to reflect their own spirit in it and to be conscious of its existence," said the late Mr. Kuniharu Abe, who received twice the Imperial silver watch given by H.I.M. the Emperor in appreciation of his scholarship. Japanese shrines have been dedicated to all kinds of gods and have the long history that they have protected the green environment, the sacred graves around them. I think that the holy precincts of a shrine have been based on the spiritual world of ancient animism and the ethics including the loyalty that Lord Masashige Kusunoki had, the importance of learning with a pure mind that Lord Michizane Sugawara had and so on exist together with the invisible world. I think it is this existence of the illusory world around us that has supported our spiritual environments, so I focus my attention on the holy precincts of a Shinto shrine, and to explain the starting point of my own creative works I will concretely illustrate the roles of my abstract works offered to a shrine and the meanings of my formative works as the decorations of Goshintai (the object of worship placed in the main hall of a Shinto shrine). With some examples and present the results of my research.
