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Located in Epcot's World Showcase

"Good Morning" in Japanese is “ohayo gozaimasu” (Ohio goh-zy-ee-mahs).

The Torii Legend
Amaterasu is the Japanese sun goddess. When her brother annoyed her with a prank, she became very angry and hid in a cave. She sealed the entrance with a large rock so no one could get to her.

Without the sun (Amaterasu), there was an eclipse. The people were very frightened by the darkness and thought they might die. They went to a Wiseman for advice.

He told them to build a giant perch near the cave and put all the village’s roosters on it. They did as he instructed.

The next morning the roosters started crowing and made an awful racket. Amaterasu was curious and peaked out of the cave. As soon as she did, a giant sumo wrestler pounced on the rock and pushed it out of the way.

 The sun goddess came out of the cave and the people were saved. The torii (bird perch) became a symbol of prosperity and good luck.
 

Epcot's Japan

 

A Little Background:
Japan is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government.

The Prime Minister is the head of government and has executive power of governance.   Legislative power belongs to the House of Representatives and House of Councilors.

The Prime Minister is Junichiro KOIZUMI who was elected in 2001.

The chief of state is Emperor AKIHITO who has been Emperor since 1989.

The capital city is Tokyo.

The Torii Gate
On the lagoon-side of the path, in front of Japan, you’ll see the Torii gate.

A Torii is the traditional entranceway to a Shinto shrine. It marks the transition from the normal world to the holy world of the shrine.

Torii consist of two upright pillars with two crossbars on top. They can be very decorative and are usually painted red. The torii in Epcot is modeled after a torii in Hiroshima. (It even has barnacles like the original gate, at the bottom of the upright posts.)

The Torii Gate
 

More about Japan:

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