The Outer Shrine of Ise is a sacred site and a place of practical instruction in James Bond’s training with Tiger Tanaka. Among pilgrims visiting the shrine, Bond rehearses the gestures of prayer under observation, learning both how to pass unnoticed and what the ritual is understood to mean.

Setting and Approach

Tiger Tanaka and Bond watch pilgrims carrying cameras from the shade of an avenue of giant cryptomerias. Tanaka identifies the Outer Shrine as the greatest temple of Shintoism and points out that visitors are praying to the sun goddess. He then asks Bond to perform the prayer without drawing attention to himself, turning the visit into an exercise in observation as well as participation.

Bond’s Ritual Rehearsal

Bond crosses the raked path and passes through a great wooden archway to join the crowd before the shrine. Two priests, dressed in red kimonos and black helmets, watch the worshippers. Bond bows toward the shrine, tosses a coin onto the wire netting used to catch offerings, claps his hands, bows his head as if in prayer, claps again, and leaves. The public pays him no attention, while one priest only barely glances at him.

Instruction and Significance

Tanaka judges Bond’s performance successful but says he should have clapped more loudly. He explains that the clapping draws the attention of the goddess and the worshipper’s ancestors, so they will pay greater attention to the prayer. Bond admits that he made no prayer because he was concentrating on remembering the correct sequence of movements. Tanaka answers that the goddess will have noticed and will help Bond concentrate in future. The shrine thus serves as a setting where outwardly correct conduct is practiced before a public audience, while the exchange also makes clear that ritual, in Tanaka’s account, involves attention beyond the visible gestures. Tanaka then takes Bond back to the car to witness another ceremony in which Bond will participate.