Ise Jingu: How Ritual Reconstruction Preserves Lost Process Knowledge
Ise Jingu and the Pyramid of Enabling Technologies (2021)
I explore how the Ise Jingu shrine in Japan remains perpetually young through a 1,300-year tradition of rebuilding every 20 years. This massive industrial effort recreates ancient structures and artifacts using traditional hand tools, ensuring that vital process knowledge is passed down through generations. Unlike written records, these practical skills survive only because the institutions create the conditions for direct, hands-on learning.
It’s not uncommon for written knowledge on a subject to be voluminous, while process knowledge on the same subject is nearly nonexistent.
- lokl
Incidentally, Mie Prefecture ranked 37 out of 47 Japanese prefectures for overnight stays by foreign tourists in 2024, but it has a lot to offer in addition to Ise Jingu. For those seeking the "real Japan" beyond Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. If you want to explore, consider Kintetsu's 5-day plus pass and fit this into your itinerary between Nagoya and Osaka, Kyoto, or Nara.
- oliculipolicula
It's easier as a foreigner to become a Shinto priest than a miya-daiku trainee. BC carpentry is a serious religion.
Aside: When Jobs said great artists steal [from Picasso], he forgot to mention that theft is the heart of apprenticeship:
https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q12...
(As you can see, it's semi-formalized in that culture)
New sengu has just started, btw