All You Know Is a Lie

I dont think things can be treated with that kind of duality. For Japanese who don't think that way, the gods are in the darkness. They may come out into the light at times, but they are usually deep in the forest or mountains. When a holy spot is created, the gods drop down onto it. That is why, in the shrines that are closest to their original form that still exist in Okinawa . . . the image of the god is just a tree or a stone. And such a shrine isn't in a bright, shining place, it's in an overgrown dark area where the silence is deep—a butterfly may flit about, but it's a bit eerie. When I went there . . . it felt as if something were there. This sense of dark awe is the sort of veneration that Japanese have toward certain forests and natural objects.