A in Japanese architecture is the road approaching either a Shinto shrine or a Buddhist temple.Iwanami Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version. Its point of origin is usually straddled in the first case by a Shinto torii, in the second by a Buddhist sanmon, gates which mark the beginning of the shrine's or temple territory. The word can refer both to a path or road, and to the path of one's life's efforts.See, Karatedo. c.f. Taoism 道 There can also be stone lanterns and other decorations at any point along its course.
A sandō can be called a , if it is the main entrance, or a if it is a secondary point of entrance, especially to the rear; are also sometimes found. The famous Omotesandō district in Tokyo, for example, takes its name from the nearby main access path to Meiji Shrine where an ura-sandō also used to exist.
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See also Shendao, a decorated road to a grave of an emperor or another dignitary in China Glossary of Shinto
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