At Ise Jingu, the shrine buildings are completely rebuilt once every 20 years. This rite is called the Shikinen Sengu. It is a slightly different way of thinking from "taking care of old things."
The idea of tokowaka
At the root of the Shikinen Sengu is tokowaka, "eternally young." According to Ise Jingu, tokowaka is the idea of keeping the vitality of the gods fresh. Not letting the buildings grow old, but keeping them always new and youthful.
There is no fixed answer as to why it is every 20 years. There are several theories: to keep the beauty of the unpainted plain-wood construction and thatched roofs, because the storage limit for dried rice was 20 years, or because it is just the right interval for passing techniques on to the next generation.
What is handed down is "the skill of making"
What is fascinating about the Shikinen Sengu is that what has been handed down for 1,300 years is not the buildings themselves, but the "skill of making" them. The craft of the shrine carpenters, the handiwork of the artisans who make the sacred treasures. Every 20 years these are put to real use and passed on to the younger generation.
As a result, the buildings we see today look almost the same as they did in the Asuka period. They were not preserved as objects; they were kept by continuing to make them.
Continuing to make, and having milestones
The work of painting is a little similar. Skill slips out of your hands if you do not keep using it. Some things can only be kept by picking up the brush every day.
And a milestone of 20 years seems reasonable in terms of well-being too. Rebuilding regularly, marking a break, making things new for a time. When people's lives have that kind of cycle as well, I think it is easier to keep our feelings fresh.
In Mermaid nao's commissioned art, too, I sometimes paint a work as a painting for pausing at a milestone in life and turning to face forward anew.
Sources
Ise Jingu official (What is the Shikinen Sengu / the 63rd Shikinen Sengu)
Wikipedia (Shikinen Sengu of Ise Jingu)
Japan for Sustainability (Keeping eternity by rebuilding every 20 years: the Sengu of Ise Jingu)
Daiwa Institute of Research, Mariko Kawaguchi (Tokowaka: Japanese sustainability seen in the Shikinen Sengu of Ise Jingu)
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