kamidana shinto prayer tools, shinto antique bronze mirror in wood stand with sake bottles and flames

Love Japanese Style Like We Do

An antique Shinto mirror (shinkyo) and a of pair of Japanese heishi-guchi (sake bottles) with an omiki-guchi (flame shape decoration), used for worship on the household kamidana (home god shelf).

The shinkyo is an important Shinto prayer tool. It represents the worshipper’s kami (god), which is most often the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu.

The sake bottles and flame decoration represent fire and water, the two elements seen necessary for purification in Japanese religion.

The Meiji Era bronze mirror is decorated in fine detail with flowers and grass and a bell flower family crest (Kikyomon) at the top. It is signed by the artist, Fujiwara Mitsunaga. The mirror has darkened with age and has areas of tarnish, giving it a lovely rustic charm. The mirror can be removed from the stand. Although it should be used with the undecorated side facing front, the beautiful patterns cast on the metal mirror also look great for display!

The mirror rests on a wooden stand, which appears to have been hand made by the owner. Shinto prayer tools were expensive for common folk so were often hand made. The wood has the nice feel of days gone by and signs of wear. The stand is made to lean forward. These mirrors were placed on a high shelf, closest to the heavens, and rather than straight on, leaning a little down gave a better viewing of the kami.

The antique flames are hand made from brass. They have line etchings creating the form of the folded paper flames that were also used in the sake bottles. They have the darkened patina of age, tarnish and rust marks. They rest in large, beautifully shaped, simple white sake bottles; white representing the purity, wisdom and knowledge of the Gods.

The set is in good antique condition.

A larger mirror and pair of flames, this hard-to-come by set, has the wonderful feel of age, and is great item to use together with an antique kamidana shrine.

- mirror and stand measures around 25 cm (9.8”) tall x 16.5 cm (6.4”) across x 4 cm (1.5”) deep.
- sake bottle with flame measures 27.5 cm (10.8”) tall x 10 cm (3.9”) across x 9 cm (3.5”) deep.
- weighs 1,000 gm.

(listing for mirror in stand and pair of sake bottles with flames)

AFTER NOTE
The flames were usually wrapped with white paper around the base to fit snuggly into the mouth of the sake bottle. The paper often slips into the bottle and is hard to get out! Instead we simply put a disposbale wooden chop stick in the sake bottle and place the hole in the back of the flame over the chopstick. With a bit of adjusting the flames stand well and you dont notice the stick at the back. Please see the photo. We will include the chopsticks!

SHIPPING INFORMATION
- please read our shipping policy.
- we use recycle packaging wherever possible and wrap for safety, rather than appearance!

ABOUT OUR VINTAGE, ANTIQUE AND OTHER ITEMS
We list pieces we feel are worthy of display. There may be scratches, dents, fading and signs of wear and tear. We try to explain the condition of each item exactly, but may miss something.

Information regarding the item and it’s age is obtained from dealers and our personal research. We do our best to give you the correct information but please be aware that we cannot guarantee this information.

Please message us prior to purchase with any questions you may have about our products.

SHINTO MIRROR (SHINKYO)
The circular mirror of Shinto is a potent symbol. It stands on the altar reresenting the kami (god). It also functions as the ‘spirit-body’ (goshintai) of the kami. It is the object the spirit enters to take physical form. The mirror acts as an interface between the physical and spiritual realms of existence.

Japanese mythology claims that the original ‘spirit-body’ was that of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, who gave a circular mirror to her grandson, Ninigi, when he descended to earth. It had been used previously to lure her out of a cave in which she was hiding. Her absence had plunged the world into darkness, and to tempt her out she was told that there was another goddess as beautiful as herself. The mirror was held up so that when she peeked out she was greeted by her own radiance, and the momentary hesitation allowed a rope to be tied across the cave entrance to prevent her from re-entering. Sunlight was restored to the world.

Later when Amaterasu decreed that a mission be sent down to earth from the High Plains of Heaven, her grandson Ninigi-no-mikoto was chosen to lead it. Before he departed, she presented him with the very same mirror which had played such an important part in the rock-cave incident. ‘Take this and revere it as if it were myself,’ she told him. Within the reflecting surface something of her essence had become ingrained.

Ninigi passed the mirror down to his heirs, who formed the imperial line which continues to this day (the present emperor is the 125th). For a long time the mirror was kept in the palace of the king of Yamato, the dominant state in ancient Japan, but in the early centuries of the Common Era it was deposited at Ise Jingu. Since that time it has been kept secluded from human eye, acting as the unseen focus of worship for the millions of pilgrims and worshippers who file before it each year.

OMIKI-GUCHI
Omiki-guchi literally means, sacred sake mouth. A stylized flame, representing fire, that springs from the mouth of a sacred sake bottle, representing water. In Japanese religion, fire and water are the origins of human life and are the means by which man can purify himself. Symbols of these two staples, are important sacred tools to be offered at the Japanese home altar. An open flame was not a good idea for the home, so finely crafted wood and metal replicas came into being. The style of these mingei flames differed depending on the local area where they were made, with techniques being passed down through generations.

The wooden flames are particularly beautiful, hand crafted into delicately scented flames from Yoshino hinoki, a variety of particularly fragrant Japanese cypress. Some are very decorative, being made in a net or complex twisted pattern of wood strips. Only straight grained wood, free of knots is used, and only hinoki is flexible and strong enough to be cut into the fine strips, necessary for fitting together the pieces into a crosshatch net pattern.

.In Japan, New Year is a time for change and new hope. The house is thoroughly cleaned, as is the home altar. This is when a new special pair of mingei flames are displayed on the kamidana, to start the year off right.

With the advent of electricity and low wattage candle lamps, the popularity of Omiki-guchi declined, but there does seem to be a new interest and appreciation of this folk art recently.