A map of torii around the world

Hi everyone! This is Dr. Kaitlyn Ugoretz, the creator of the map. I had no idea folks were talking about it here until someone just sent me the link. This is an early work-in-progress for my second book project. I created it to test a theory and never expected to find so many torii, but now it’s kind of addictive. Gotta catch ‘em all! Most of them I find myself through social media research, but many ppl have been kind to help me crowdsource info. A couple of responses to the most common comments so far:

1. Thanks for your interest! This is a rly niche area of research, so it’s lovely to know people are engaging with it.

2. I’m sorry about the annoying icons carrying over—I had no idea this was an issue. I’ll try to find a way to fix it if I can. The first link I shared was not a proper share link, just something I grabbed off my phone last minute and pasted on Bluesky.

3. I only include torii on private property with the express permission of the people who live there/own it. I don’t want strangers using my mapping project to creep on unsuspecting people’s houses. That being said, if anyone would like to volunteer their torii, I am happy to add them.

4. In the future (aka when I finish my first book and move on to the second full-time, hopefully with some funding), I’ll be moving the map data to an open access platform.

5. Anyone is welcome to get in contact with me through my website! I will probably lose my current institutional email address soon since I finished my degree, but I will keep the website link updated with my contact info. www.ugoretzresearch.org/contact

6. If you are interested in learning more about torii gates, I’ve been posting threads under #ToriiTuesday on Twitter/X (but not anymore) and Bluesky (current) almost every week for over a year now.

7. Some gates that appear similar to torii are actually a separate category of gate called “mon” in Japan that are based on continental (Chinese & Korean) gate architecture. For example, the mon gate at the Portland Japanese Gardens (doubly confusing bc they have a curator whose surname is Torii!). My policy is not to include mon unless they are identified as torii by the people who built them.

8. Last one, promise. I include both torii that are extant (still there) and historical (used to be there). Some are ephemeral, like festivals and conventions, and some last for a long time. I hope to capture them all. :)

Missing the small one in Porto Alegre, likely the the southernmost gate in Brazil: https://diariogaucho.clicrbs.com.br/dia-a-dia/noticia/2024/0...

Mostly off topic, but...

I was surprised to see two listed in South Korea, and at least the one in Seoul (Gimpo Airport) seems outdated - the map links to a photo that looks at least 50 years old. (I found some Korean articles about a shrine in Ulleung Island that was repurposed by residents to a shrine for the "sea spirit," though I couldn't verify if it's the one shown on the map.)

* During Japan's rule over Korea, Japan built shinto shrines all over Korea and forced Koreans to gather and worship the empire. Suffice it to say that these buildings didn't survive Korean independence.

The Japanese garden fixtures at Kidd Springs Park in Dallas have an interesting history documented in the article linked by clicking that icon.

I believe that if I read it right the torii that had been in place burned or rotted decades ago. Many of the antique Japanese fixtures have been lost over time due to everything from theft to poor record-keeping to decay.

Fortunately the parks department is working to restore as much of the garden as possible using the things that are still in place and with additional pieces donated or procured from other sources.

Fort Worth's Japanese Garden at the Botanical Research Institute's Botanic Gardens is a nice place to visit and relax. The BRI has a dedicated staff to manage their operations and within the last 5-6 years they have changed from a free access to a paid entry to help generate the revenue needed to maintain parks like this. You can still visit without paying if you are part of a group I believe.

Anyway, public sites like these are important today in our society that feels like it has become more insular in many ways in spite of the vast information available about other cultures.

Really cool map! I clicked this link on my phone, and now all the icons are permanently in my Google maps, without a straightforward way to "unsubscribe" from the list (can't see anything in the Lists section, on Android Mobile at least). If anyone knows how to remove these beautiful tori icons that'd be great

Also the tag “man_made=torii” on overpass turbo: <http://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1Ze7>

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torii

On the subject of "world map of a particular item," there is The Guinness Map, a very accessible map of all the world's pubs that serve Guinness ale on tap:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42406157

Los Angeles. Missing both my front gate and my back gate, and the temple bell just inside, and the kabukimon that leads to the engawa, covered by the nokishita. Shikata ga nai

for people using text only browsers, torii are standalone gates, metaphorical gates if you will, that you see at shrines.

they look something like these: 鳥居 <-- that's kanji for "torii", bird+location :)

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

Cool! Some of these seem like they were around only for a special event and then were torn down; for instance the one in Cremona, Italy labeled "2024 Italian Koi Show".

What a disappointment, I was expecting a map of toruses around the world