Fill in the Blanks Torii: the Spiritual Symbol of JapanOnline version Match the answers to the blanks by 芳君 劉 1 The torii of Japan is one of the many symbols of the country . These simple yet gates dot the Japanese landscape . While the origins of these aesthetic - looking gates are not clear , many believe that they have been imported from India or China . In India , gates called torana appear at entrances to Buddhist and Hindu temples . The name torana also sounds a bit to torii , which further the theory . In China , similar structures known as pailou are built at the entrances to Buddhist and Taoist temples as well . Japanese legend , however , says . According to the Kojiki , a collection of myths written in 712 about Japan and its local deities or kami , the origin of torii has to do with Amaterasu , the sun goddess of the Shinto religion . by her wicked brother ? s destructive behavior , she locked herself in a cave , the world into darkness . Other kami thought of a way to her out : to get the bird of the morning to call out . They installed a perch in front of the cave and roosters on it . This perch was the first torii . Upon hearing the roosters call , Amaterasu to see what was going on , returning light to the world . The story sounds reasonable since the Japanese characters for torii mean " bird home . " The torii the border between the living world and the spirit world . When one through a torii , they are entering sacred land , the land of the kami . Each torii that a person passes through means they are entering a land holier than the last . When you leave a temple , it ? s important to leave through all of the gates you walked through when entering you be stuck in the spirit world . So , the next time you ? re admiring a temple in Japan , remember to be towards the kami and return to our world safe and sound .
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