In Japan, Torii gates are symbols of transformation and entry, for the transition into a sacred space. They celebrate places of worship, or places of spiritual impact. They are often found in quiet, hidden locii of stunning natural beauty. See previous post. See the images below taken from Kawaguchiko, near Fuji-san.
When 18 students from Hiroshima University joined us in at the University of Idaho in August of 2025, we decided to incorporate a set of Torii Gates into the existing campus pollinator garden. These were ceramic-cedar hybrid structures- and while they don’t exactly mimic the specific design of Japanese Torii’s, they are intended to celebrate that tradition.
The actual construction of the gates was a fun little engineering exercise- using large carboard footing tubes as molds, and assembling the crossbar for the gate in modular form. The final version incorporated bas relief images of fish (representing the link between the pollinator garden and a nearby waterway) and mason bees (native pollinators).
We asked our visitors from Hiroshima to consider the concept of ‘Sustainability’ (part of a intensive short course on the subject). Each student then decided on a word, image, living being, or concept that represented sustainabilty to them. They then sculpted these concepts in clay.
The students generated a varied and fascinating array of conceptual forms. To one student, ‘sustainability’ was embodied in an octopus- to another, an 温泉 (‘onsen’, hotspring). One student took the Japanese Kanji for ‘human’ （人）and sculpted it as two mutually supporting figures… while another (with biology on the mind) created a paramecium.
We installed the gates over two days- with a groundbreaking and a public dedication. University administrators and members of the public attended. Each student hung their clay work on the gate, telling its story.
Overall, this was a satisfying and integrative project- one that we plan to build on in the future.
The students were wonderful to work with- full of energy (I don’t know when they slept), joyful, hard working… and with a lack of cynicism that was humbling at times. I’m very grateful to them.
It was an amazing experience! The natural beauty of Idaho stimulated our senses and allowed us to explore sustainability in an intuitive and scientific way. Thank you, Idaho, and thank you, David!
素晴らしい経験でした！アイダホの自然が私たちの感性を刺激し、直感的かつ科学的に持続可能性を探求することができました。アイダホ、そしてDavid、ありがとう！