Discussions on the Religious Space of Edo City: The Landscape and Functions of Temples and Shrines

Abstract

The distribution and landscape of temples and shrines and their functions in the City of Edo are examined, and urban structures constructed based on mystical and religious aspects of spa-tial design are evaluated. The five key findings of this study are: 1. A city design modeled on Heiankyou （ancient Kyoto） was applied to the construction of the City of Edo, and was arranged according to four directions and their connections with gods. This model was meant to protect the City of Edo not only militarily, but also in magical and religious ways. In particular, large temples and chinju-sha shrines, which were strongly associated with the Tokugawa shogunate family, were placed to face northeast/southwest — directions regarded as being unlucky — as well as towards places of execution and the locations of red-light districts in areas bordering the city. This placement created an extraordinary atmosphere in the city. Tokugawa Ieyasu was awarded a posthumous shingo （literally, a Shinto deity） title, " Tosho Daigongen, " and was enshrined angled towards the North Star （i.e. Nikko） to protect the City of Edo. The attempt to harness these magical factors to protect and safeguard the City of Edo is one of its characteristics. 2. Temples and shrines were under the control of the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo Period, and the Honmatsu-seido （government-enforced main-branch temple system） was estab-lished through the enactment of jiinhatto （laws for temples） . In addition, members of the public were forcibly linked to temples and shrines through their status as danka （temple supporters） under the Terauke seido （a system that compelled the public to become Buddhists） . Through this administration of religion, temples were integrated into a system for maintaining social order as a marginal role in the mechanism of the Tokugawa shogunate. 3. The temple and shrine estates as a whole were almost the same size as the space allocated