Nikko Toshogu Shrine, as a "zoo"（5）

Imaginary Elephants

After passing through Omote-mon (the front gate), there are "three Jinko" (sacred storehouses): the upper and middle shrine storehouses in the front, and the lower shrine storehouse on the right. The upper and middle storehouses are for storing ritual implements.
The left-hand shinjinko is said to hold the most important items. A huge elephant painted on the "gable" of the storehouse immediately catches the eye.
It is said that Kano Tanyu painted the drafts, but why are the elephants on the left and right completely different? Did different painters make different preliminary sketches for each of them, or did they intentionally draw them differently according to the aesthetic of asymmetry (left-right asymmetry)?
In any case, people at that time had never seen a real elephant, so they painted from their imagination, and this elephant is also called an "imaginary elephant."

The elephants on the left and right are quite different.↑↓

Don't miss the elephant with only its head.↑↓

And even dragons? There are also.

The whole thing is arranged like this.↑

Even in the Edo period, common people were allowed to enter up to the Yomeimon Gate. Therefore, it may be that the gate was "heaped up" with highly appealing items for the general public up to the Yomeimon Gate, and built just like a zoo.