b) Description and inventory

The buildings of Itsukushima-jinja consist of the main shrine buildings constructed and composed to achieve harmony and unification under one consistent design concept, and the other buildings which have been constructed around these main buildings over a long period of history. Each building displays excellence as a work of architecture in its own right, and the group of buildings as a whole corresponds to the group of buildings specified in Article 1 of the World Heritage Convention. The buildings are listed in Appendix 5a. Itsukushima is an island which is believed to be the dwelling place of a god venerated by the local inhabitants in the surrounding coast and islands, who since ancient times have felt the spirit of the god in the shape of the surrounding mountains -- with Mt. Misen as the most important mountain. It is said that people had deified the god dwelling there as the "Itsukushima no kami (the god of Itsukushima)", and had originally worshipped this god from the opposite coast across the sea without landing on the island itself, which had long been believed to be a sacred land. In time, worshipping spots were created on the coastal edge of the island, and eventually, primitive buildings were constructed, which gradually developed into a compound of main buildings. The reconstruction by Saeki Kagehiro under the sponsorship of Taira no Kiyomori described earlier was intended to introduce buildings of refined architectural style to replace the older buildings of primitive style. The architectural style of the north-facing buildings of the Honsha and the west-facing buildings of the Sessha Marodo jinja , connected by the Kairo(roofed corridor), was influenced by the dwelling-house style of the ruling aristocrats of the Heian Period(794-1184). The details of the shrine buildings and the gentle curves of the Japanese cypress bark roofs show the general atmosphere of the aristocratic dwelling-house style known as Shindenzukuri. In repairs or restorations after frequent disasters including two fires, Itsukushima-jinja scrupulously maintained the previous style and composition of the shrine buildings. The buildings of Itsukushima-jinja display a distinctive appearance characterized by an unparalleled design concept, with a composition of vermilion-colored religious buildings built over the water, set against the backdrop of the rich greenery of the sacred Mt. Misen. In earlier times, the belief that a divine spirit dwelled on Itsukushima Island resulted in making the entire island an object of worship; over time, as shrine buildings began to appear by the waterside, this had resulted in emphasizing the frontal view of the shrine buildings with the natural environment seen in the background; in particular Mt. Misen and its mountain ridge profile came to be regarded as an important component of the overall scene. Consequently the entire area, from the sea area and the Otorii (a large shrine gate) in the foreground to the mountains in the background, resembling a progression of folding screens leading up to Mt. Misen, came to be recognized as a unified natural environment surrounding the shrine buildings. In front of the massive form of the mountain, the delicate forms of the shrine buildings are gracefully arranged, with the sea surface incessantly changing expression in relation to the sunlight -- all in all creating a splendid composition with striking contrasts of color and mass. The shrine, endlessly changing in expression with the tides, makes the viewer feel as though he is looking at a great work of art. The shrine's value as a scenic beauty spot had been recognized among the general public already by the beginning of the 18th century, and Itsukushima Island became known throughout Japan as "Aki no Miyajima", one of the Three Most Scenic Places in Japan, and was highly appreciated by the many people visiting there. Itsukushima-jinja, like the many other Shinto shrines that had once followed the custom of constructing buildings of Buddhist style, lost many of them as a result of the Buddhism Rejection Movement after the Meiji Restoration (1868). However, several Buddhist buildings constructed in the surrounding hills since the middle ages have been preserved in spite of the rejection movement and are today considered important buildings indispensable to the history of Itsukushima-jinja, as are the Shinto shrine buildings themselves.