shinmon 神門

Lit. "deity gate." Any type of gate found at a shrine, excluding the gate-like entrance to the sacred ground of a Shinto shrine called *torii 鳥居. Shinmon may be single or 2-storied gates with or without undulating bargeboards *karahafu 唐破風. The introduction of Buddhism to Japan and the construction of large temple compounds with elaborate gates influenced their use in Shinto shrines. Type of gates found at shrines include the *munamon 棟門, *yakuimon 薬医門, and *zuijinmon 随神門. Example, Kasuga Jinja Shinmon 春日神社神門 (1511) in Shiga Prefecture, is a munamon type gate .