WONDERWALL

The temizuya (a purification font for ritual cleansing of hands and mouth with water when visiting shrines) is located in the grounds of the Kamado Shrine, where we also designed its juyojo (a booth offering amulets) back in 2012. The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated a reexamination of the ceremonial cleansing rite using a ladle, and we embarked on a search for a modern version of the temizuya.
The origins of this cleansing rite stem from the fact that people often performed ablutions at surrounding rivers and seas before visiting a sacred place. Water creates a cycle: rain falls from the sky, drips down tree branches, and soaks into the earth; it resurfaces as spring water and flows into a river and then the sea. In this cycle, we focused on and recreated the moment in which water drips and drops from a tree branch. The project has added a new element to the traditional temizuya through stainless steel “branches” that allows people to purify their hands without having to use a ladle.

Homangu Kamado Shrine Temizuya (Purification Font): 883 Uchiyama, Dazaifu-shi, Fukuoka