Lopes on the ontology of Japanese shrines

It is part of a tradition in Japan to rebuild cer-tain buildings every so many years. The Ise Jingushrine is a case in point. It, or at least one of thebuildings on its site (the goshoden at the naiku),has been rebuilt almost every twenty years sincethe eighth century. What is remarkable is that dif-ferent materials are used each time the structureis rebuilt. Moreover, the rebuilding does not takeplace exactly “on the spot,” but on some vacantlot next to the original building. To the philosophi-cally inclined, the question then arises whether thenew building is identical to the old one. Japanesecommon sense, as reported by Dominic McIverLopes, seems to be ambiguous on this point.