[dereg]

Young man me likely would have thought, “wow, cool tradition!”

Old man me thinks “$390 million? How are they funding this?! That seems like a massive sum of money to throw down the drain every 20 years.”

Then I did the back of envelope math. Assuming 20% comes from donations, then all you’d need is a $380m fund earning a real 3% to fund the building of the next temple. That’s very doable.

[prmoustache]

9 years to build something that only last 20 seems a bit weird though.

[anvandare]

The shrine is not the shrine.

The shrine is the previous generation teaching the next to build the shrine.

So if the shrine were to fall, then the shrine would eventually fall.

That is why the shrine must keep falling, so that it can keep being rebuilt, and so the shrine keeps standing.

[lo_zamoyski]

What makes something weird?

Something is “weird” when it is absurd, which is to say something that is aimless or has an aim that is not in the service of an objective good. There’s a deviance from the nature of the thing, like intentionally growing a tumor on your forehead or having a tumor growing out of your forward and then happily refusing to have it removed.

Otherwise, what is said of things that are merely unconventional.

So in this case, is there not a purpose? Is the purpose not spiritual and instructive in some sense? Are you not imposing an inappropriate tacit goal onto this practice?

Or perhaps you find it weird because it is nowhere to be found within your conventions?

[burnt-resistor]

Regarding the Ise Shrine (伊勢神宮), the practice is called Sengū (遷宮) related to preserving mystical spirits, supporting trades, tradition, and respecting the cyclical impermanence of all things.

By contrast, Hōryū Gakumonji (法隆学問寺) is a 1350+ years old wooden structure more closely related to the themes of imported Buddhism long before the shinbutsu bunri (神仏分離) but in Japanese style. There are/were very large buddha figures carved into rock throughout Iran, Afghanistan, China during the Mongol period and also semi-contemporaneously c. ~7th century Japan's Usuki Stone Buddhas (臼杵磨崖仏).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ise_Shrine#Rebuilding_the_Shri...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seng%C5%AB

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C5%8Dry%C5%AB-ji

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinbutsu_bunri

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usuki_Stone_Buddhas

[packetlost]

A big part of the benefit seems to be in ensuring the next generation is capable of the craftsmanship necessary to ensure the shrine continues to stand. If you don't continue to rebuild, then the skills atrophy until they're lost forever.

[Yeul]

Not at all unusual. In Europe we have 500 year old buildings that need constant renovations.

Finish one part of the building and the next part needs doing. And on and on it goes.

[readthenotes1]

Roughly $20M/year for 1300 years. That really does add up to quite a bit of opportunity cost.

[Ekaros]

Makes Stonehenge looks like most sensible approach. Build it one time and then it will be there. Not that Egyptians with stone in dessert is bad either.