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Where is the Japanese Shrine in MacRitchie reservoir?

By Rachel Hickman

Where is the Japanese Shrine in MacRitchie reservoir?

Syonan Jinja
Syonan Jinja

Syonan Jinja Shōnan Shrine 昭南神社
TypeShinto shrine
Location
LocationMacRitchie Reservoir
Geographic coordinates1°20′53.6″N 103°48′49.7″E

Can you go inside a Shinto shrine?

In Japan, be it the city or the countryside, you will find various Shinto shrines of all sizes. Needless to say, anybody can enter the shrine grounds and pay their respects, regardless of the religious belief they may hold.

How do you get to the Shinto shrine?

When you’re visiting a shrine, you enter its precincts by going through a gate, called a torii. This gate both marks where the realm of Shinto kami begins and separates it from the secular world. By entering the grounds through the gate, you are stepping onto sacred grounds: be aware of this.

What does a Shinto shrine look like?

Structurally, a Shinto shrine is usually characterized by the presence of a honden or sanctuary, where the kami is enshrined. The honden may however be completely absent, as for example when the shrine stands on a sacred mountain to which it is dedicated, and which is worshipped directly.

When was MacRitchie reservoir built?

1867
MacRitchie Reservoir, Singapore. Completed in 1867, it was the first impounding reservoir in Singapore, made possible through a donation of S$13,000 by philanthropist Tan Kim Seng. In 1907, it was enlarged and named Thomson Road Reservoir.

How do you pay respects in Japan?

Most bodies in Japan are cremated. The remains go to graves, or home shrines. More recently, some are spread on the sea or mountains. After the body is burned, the family uses ceremonial chopsticks to place the ashes and bones into an urn, passing bones from one family member to another.

What can you not do at a Japanese shrine?

Don’t: Take Photos Inside The Temple Or Shrine While there are plenty of spectacular photos of the grounds as well as the exterior of Japanese temples and shrines, visitors are usually prohibited from taking photos inside these sacred spaces. It is widely considered to be disrespectful.

How do you practice Shintoism?

Key Takeaways: Shinto Worship Visiting shrines, purification, reciting prayers, and giving offerings are essential Shinto practices. Funerals do not take place in Shinto shrines, as death is considered impure.

Is MacRitchie Reservoir a protected area?

The forest surrounding the reservoir has been protected as a water catchment reserve. After the British surrender and the subsequent Japanese occupation of Singapore, the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) built a Shinto shrine, Syonan Jinja, in the middle of the dense forest surrounding MacRitchie Reservoir.