Saiku Q & A
Q1: How many Saio were there?Q2: Who was the youngest Saio?
Q3: Who was the oldest Saio?
Q4: Who was the longest serving Saio?
Q5: What did the former Saio do after retirement?
Q6: Why were only unmarried women appointed as Saio?
Q7: Did only one princess serve as Saio at any one time?
Q8: What is the difference between “Saio” and “Saiku”?
Q9: Doesn’t Ise Jingu currently have a Saio?
Q10: Why was the Saio system necessary?
Q11: Why was the Saio system abolished?
Q12: Who were buried in the Saio’s graves located in Meiwa Town?
Q13: Why was the Saiku established in this place?
Q14: What kinds of people served the Saio?
Q15: Did the Saiku have any special rules she had to follow?
Q16: Where did the Saiku officials live?
Q17: Is the romantic tale of the Saio in The Tales of Ise a true story?
Q18: Does The Tale of Genji mention the Saiku?
Q19: When did excavation of the remains of the Saiku begin?
Q20: Have ancient roads been discovered at the Saiku?
Q21: Why have no roof tiles been found at the Saiku?
Q22: What happened to the Saiku site after the Saiku was abolished?
Q23: What does a legendary Saio mean?
Q24: Are other words besides “Saio” and “Saiku” used for them?
Q25: Was the Saio a kind of shaman or miko (shrine maiden)?
Q1: How many Saio were there?
A1: The Saio was an unmarried female member of the imperial family appointed to serve the Ise Jingu shrine complex, and there were over 60 of them. This figure results from counting all the Saio whose existence can be reliably confirmed. Princess Oku (661–701), who was appointed in the late 7th century, was the oldest confirmed Saio, and Princess Sachiko (dates unknown) in the early 14th century was the last recorded one. However, because few historical sources for Saio in the early 8th century are available, opinions vary, and the exact number of Saio is actually unknown
Q2: Who was the youngest Saio?
A2: The youngest Saio to be appointed was Princess Isako (1176–?), a daughter of Emperor Takakura. When she was appointed as Saio, she was just one year old. However, because her mother passed away in 1179, she retired without coming to the Saiku. Few historical sources for Saio during this era are available, so we have no information about what kind of life she lived after that.
Q3: Who was the oldest Saio?
A3: The oldest Saio to be appointed was Princess Toshiko (1197–1251), an elder sister of Emperor Go-Horikawa. She was appointed as Saio at age 29, came to the Saiku at age 31, and spent about four years there until the emperor abdicated.
Q4: Who was the longest serving Saio?
A4: Princess Yasuko (c. 892–959), a younger sister of Emperor Daigo (885–930), served for the longest period. She was appointed as Saio in 897, and served until 930, 34 years later. She came to Ise in 899 and spent 32 years at the Saiku. She served as Saio for such a long period because the emperor was on the throne for a very long time.
Q5: What did the former Saio do after retirement?
A5: A small number of former Saio (seven, as far as we can confirm) got married after retirement. This was because, in principle, the younger sisters of emperors in the Heian period were supposed to remain unmarried. It is thought that many former Saios spent the rest of their lives in comfort, while some became nuns.
Q6: Why were only unmarried women appointed as Saio?
A6: Saio were supposed to maintain their physical purity, and be isolated from the mundane world. Although Saio only went to Ise Jingu three times a year, they had to always devote themselves to the deities in their hearts, even while at the Saiku. Therefore, they were not allowed to lead ordinary social lives and get married. Additionally, the reasons why Saio had to be female have been explained in several ways: some believe that a Saio was viewed as the wife for the deities, while others believe that the norms required women to closely serve supreme beings, such as emperors and deities.
Q7: Did only one princess serve as Saio at any one time?
A7: In the era of Emperor Saga, around the beginning of 9th century, Saio also began to be appointed to serve Kyoto’s Kamo Shrine, which housed the guardian deity of the imperial capital. Thus, there were two Saio until the Kamo system was abolished in the early 13th century. Both Saio were selected from unmarried imperial princesses through divination.
Q8: What is the difference between “Saio” and “Saiku”?
A8: The word “Saiku,” which originally meant the palace of the Saio, was also used to denote the Saio themselves. Additionally, to distinguish a Saio for Ise Jingu from a Saio for Kamo Shrine, the former was sometimes called “Saiku,” and the latter “Saiin.”
Q9: Doesn’t Ise Jingu currently have a Saio?
A9: No, it doesn’t. The Saio system was abolished in the early 14th century. After that, the successive Saishu (chief priests), as general managers of Ise Jingu, made their way between the imperial capital and Ise. Saishu, dating back to the 8th or 9th century, were the administrative supervisors of Ise Jingu, for which a man from the aristocratic Onakatomi family was appointed by descent. After Japan was reestablished as a modern state in the late 19th century, a male member of the Imperial family began to be appointed as the Saishu. Since Ise Jingu became a private religious entity after WWII, a married woman who once belonged to the Imperial family has been appointed as the Saishu. The Saishu is sometimes misunderstood to be a Saio.
Q10: Why was the Saio system necessary?
A10: It is thought that the Saio was necessary as a symbol of both the connection between Ise Jingu and the Imperial court, and a connection between emperors and Amaterasu, the ancestral deity of the imperial family enshrined at Ise Jingu. It also seems that, after the 10th century, the Saiku played the role of a salon which disseminated the splendid culture of the imperial capital to Ise, and strengthened the authority of Ise Jingu.
Q11: Why was the Saio system abolished?
A11: It is thought that a Saio was necessary for adding religious authority to the ancient state regime centered around the emperor. However, in parallel with the transformation of the national administrative structure and the destabilization of the fiscal system in the late 9th century, the Saio system began to decline. Moreover, when the political power of the emperor weakened in the 13th century, the Saio system declined even further. Although the Saio was again given importance as a symbol of the new political regime established by Emperor Go-Daigo in the early 14th century, this regime collapsed after only a short period, and the Saio system itself was also abolished.
Q12: Who were buried in the Saio’s graves located in Meiwa Town?
A12: Two Saio passed away during their period of service: Princess Takako in 974 and Princess Atsuko in 1172. In Meiwa Town, Princess Takako’s grave is under the management of the Imperial Household Agency. However, it was not until the 19th century that it was named as her grave, and rather than being a gravesite, it is actually thought to be an ancient tumulus (kofun). There is also a site that tradition says is Princess Atsuko’s grave, but, in the same way, it also seems to be a tumulus. Without documents indicating where their graves were, we cannot be certain about their locations.
Q13: Why was the Saiku established in this place?
A13: The Saiku was located at the western edge of Ise Jingu’s influence, and on the main road of that time leading from the imperial capital to Ise Jingu. However, without historical documents revealing the reasons for the Saiku’s location, various hypotheses have been proposed to explain why it was located here. For example, when the Saio traveled to Ise Jingu, a long procession was formed to traverse the distance, and this would have demonstrated the power of the Saio and the emperor. It also could have been done to avoid political conflict between Saiku and Ise Jingu by placing Saiku at the farthest point away from Ise within the shrine’s area of influence.
Q14: What kinds of people served the Saio?
A14: The Saio had a little over 40 women serving her at any one time. Aristocratic women worked as secretaries or waited on her, and there were also commoners among her staff. The Saikuryo, or government office, had 26 male bureaucrats. If you count part-time staff members and those who performed miscellaneous duties, the total staff amounted to about 520. For a provincial office, this was an extremely large-scale organization.
Q15: Did the Saiku have any special rules she had to follow?
A15: The Saiku was a palace housing someone who served the deity Amaterasu, and as such, it was required to remain in a ritually pure state at all times. Therefore, people there were prohibited from having contact with impure things or committing impure acts. Moreover, some rules even provided for the use of substitutes for words denoting such impurities. Similarly, Buddhist words were also replaced with substitute words. Below are some examples:
| “Die” (shi) | → | An antonym meaning “live” (naoru) |
| “Illness” (yamai) | → | An antonym meaning “recover from illness” (yasumi) |
| “Blood” (chi) | → | “Sweat” (ase), because it comes out from the body like blood, but it is not an impurity |
| “Sutra” (kyoten) | → | Dyed paper” (someta kami), because colored paper was used for sutras at that time |
| “Buddhist temple” (jiin) | → | “Tile-roofed building”(kawara buki) because Buddhist temples were roofed with tiles, while tiles were not used for the Saiku buildings |
| “Buddhist priest” (so) | → | An antonym meaning “long-haired person” (nagai kami no hito) because Buddhist priests were shaven |
Q16: Where did the Saiku officials live?
A16: The buildings of the Saikuryo, the government office responsible for Saiku administration, were laid out in a grid pattern with blocks, which were equivalent to present-day government office districts. Saiku officials traveled from their residences outside the blocks to their workplaces every day. It is thought that residential areas were located around the Saiku, and Saiku officials lived there with their families. The Saiku and its vicinity were among the most densely populated areas in Japan outside of the imperial capital.
Q17: Is the romantic tale of the Saio in The Tales of Ise a true story?
A17: The Ise Monogatari (The Tales of Ise), a literary work written around the early 10th century, includes the tale of a romance between a handsome, noble protagonist, probably modeled on Ariwara no Narihira (825–880), and a Saio. It is thought that the Saio at that time was Princess Yasuko (dates unknown), an elder sister of Emperor Seiwa. In the tale, the protagonist visits the Saiku as a messenger of the emperor. For a long while, people have debated whether the male protagonist depicts Ariwara no Narihira as a real person, whether the romance between the two is fact or fiction, whether Ariwara no Narihira really came to Ise, and so on. There is no evidence to confirm the story, but it appears that this tale was viewed as a true story by people living around the end of the 10th century.
Q18: Does The Tale of Genji mention the Saiku?
A18: In Genji Monogatari (The Tale of Genji), a world-renowned classic, the central protagonist, Hikaru Genji, has a romantic relationship with a woman older than him, commonly known as Lady Rokujo. The former wife of a late prince, she leaves Genji to accompany her daughter to Ise, as the daughter had been appointed as the Saio. After retiring and returning to the imperial capital, the Saio becomes an imperial consort with the support of Hikaru Genji, and begins to be called Saiku no Nyogo, suggesting an “imperial consort who was at the Saiku.” It is thought that Lady Rokujo’s daughter who became a Saio is modeled after Princess Yoshiko (929–985), who was a granddaughter of Emperor Daigo, and became a Saio before getting married to Emperor Murakami. Princess Yoshiko was also called Saiku no Nyogo.
Q19: When did excavation of the remains of the Saiku begin?
A19: The excavation work began in 1970, when Japan was at the height of its exceptional economic growth. At that time, a project was being initiated to develop a housing complex in the area to the south of the current site of the Saiku Historical Museum, and the preliminary studies for the project identified the remains of the Saiku dating back to the 8 th century. Excavation of a wider area resulted in various discoveries, including wide ditches, the remains of buildings, unique inkstones, and red-painted clay horse figurines. The former existence of the Saiku, which up until that time had mainly been viewed as a myth, was thus confirmed.
Q20: Have ancient roads been discovered at the Saiku?
A20: Excavations have shown that there was a straight road lined with gutters on both sides within the Saiku site. The road width is estimated to have been about nine meters, which is equivalent to the width of a two-lane road today. This road, part of a road to Ise Jingu branching off from the highway between the imperial capital and Eastern Japan, was designed to run as straight as possible, just like a present-day expressway.
This road was used when messengers for the emperors went to Ise Jingu, and when Saio came from the imperial capital to Ise Jingu. In the historic site, part of the road has been restored as the “Ancient Ise Road.”
Q21: Why have no roof tiles been found at the Saiku?
A21: Roof tiles are building materials introduced into Japan together with Buddhism. In the 8th century, when the Saiku system was established, roof tiles were used for temples and government office buildings, while roof tiles were not used for residential sections in the Imperial Palace. It seems that the Saiku, simultaneously a palace and government office, did not use roof tiles, avoiding the Buddhist style and imitating the imperial residence.
Q22: What happened to the Saiku site after the Saiku was abolished?
A22: Given that earthen vessels typical to this region were excavated at this site, the Saiku site seems to have been used for agriculture no different anywhere else in the local landscape. In the Edo period, a craze for pilgrimage to Ise Jingu among the common people swept the country, and the Saiku served as a stopover town. Geographical publications at that time suggest that place names related to the Saiku remained, and the area was known as the old location of the Saiku.
Q23: What does a legendary Saio mean?
A23: Historical documents, including the Nihon Shoki (The Chronicles of Japan), indicate that some princesses served the deity of Ise Jingu before the time of Princess Oku (661–701), the oldest Saio whose existence has been confirmed. Because the existence of such princesses has not been verified, we call them legendary Saio. One of them, Yamatohime-no-mikoto, is a princess famous for choosing the present-day site for Ise Jingu at the end of her journey carrying the deity Amaterasu, during which time she went to various regions in search for a sanctuary for her.
Q24: Are other words besides “Saio” and “Saiku” used for them?
A24:The Chinese characters used in Japanese have Chinese-style (on-yomi) and Japanese-style (kun-yomi) readings. “Saio” and “Saiku” are Chinese-style readings, which can be read in the Japanese-style as “Itsuki-no-himemiko” and “Itsuki-no-miya.” Some facilities in the Saiku site, including the Itsukinomiya Hall for Historical Experience, use “Itsukinomiya” in their names because this Japanese-style reading sounds more traditional and dignified.
Q25: Was the Saio a kind of shaman or miko (shrine maiden)?
A25: A Saio was a woman whose role was to serve the deities, but they were not expected to be involved in politics by making predictions or conveying divine oracles. In this regard, the Saio were distinctly different from miko and shamans. Additionally, Saio did not lead prayers or preside over rituals, as priestesses or clergy did. Saio were also not involved in daily religious services at Ise Jingu, but they participated as the most venerated being in the most important religious services. Furthermore, Saio did not pray for any specific purpose on behalf of the emperors. The value of the Saio lay in their existence within Ise. What, then, was the purpose of the Saio staying in Ise?
The Saio system was unique in that only one Saio was appointed during the reign of an emperor. Each Saio was expected to serve the deity of Ise Jingu on behalf of the emperor, who could not easily leave the imperial capital. It can be said that Saio embodied the devotion of emperors to the deity of Ise Jingu, the guardian deity of all emperors.
