Re: [sumo] Icy Ise report

["STU" <jtodd@henderson.net>]

Katrina wrote:

> was stronger than the glory of winning.  Asashoryu beat Shimotori to
> once again claim the prizes, including a kamidana - miniature shrine,
> and wooden carved chickens ?? (don't know the significance of these)

I think the rooster has some fundamental connection with Shinto.  The 
tori (bird) in torii refers to the the rooster, I think, and the torii itself is 
therefore a representation of its roost, a bird's rest.  Why a bird's rest has 
come to symbolize the sacred precincts of Shinto, I don't know, but is 
something I'd like to find out if anybody knows.

If you wander through the grounds around Ise Naiku, you'll come across 
these birds crossing your path, long-tailed and brilliantly hued, semi-wild 
and used to humans, just like the semi-wild koi that swim in the nearby 
Isuzu River.

--
Sho Uehara

[EndPost by "STU" <jtodd@henderson.net>]