Kehi Jingu

Kehi Jingu.

In the port town of Tsuruga, on the Sea of Japan coast, stands one of the country's largest and most weathered wooden gates.

The torii is more than four hundred years old. It has stood through fire, earthquake, and constant salt wind blown in from the sea, just outside the shrine. It is one of three traditionally counted as the largest wooden gates in Japan.

For centuries, this town was where the country's most important sea route connected with its overland routes. Goods, ideas, and travelers from Korea, China, and northern Japan came through Tsuruga before continuing inland to Kyoto. Anyone leaving on a long sea journey, anyone returning safely, would stop at this shrine.

The gate was the first thing they saw when they arrived. It was the last thing they saw when they left.

The wood has aged into a deep, complicated color — neither brown nor red nor gray, but something all its own, made by four hundred years of weather. The vermillion paint has been refreshed many times. Each new coat finds the old wood waiting.

Today, the sea routes are quiet. The trains and the highways have replaced them. But the gate is still here, still receiving the wind off the sea.

Stand under the gate. Look up at the wood. Smell the salt.

This is what a place looks like when it has spent a very long time saying goodbye to people, and welcoming them home.