Tokyo has all kinds of shrines, from the controversial military memorial Yasukuni Shrine to the sedate and peaceful Meiji Jingu to department store rooftop sanctuaries to back garden models. Like many traditional things in Japan, there is a prescribed way of doing things. Here’s a guide to how to pay your respects at a Shinto shrine.
It’s customary to wash your hands in the big basin in the front garden before you approach. Use the dipper and rinse your hands - outside the trough, please – and dry your hands on the ubiquitous Japanese hankie.
When you walk up to the haiden you can throw yen coins in the collection box. “Go en” means both five yen and good relations, and this is why visitors keep these coins back for offerings at shrines. Now bow, clap your hands twice to announce your arrival, and give the bell rope a good tug to get the bells rattling. In Shinto rites, the local people and priests indicate their need for intercession of the gods with clapping, bells and gongs.
You can’t go into the honden, the place where the deity is enshrined. However, sometimes you can just see into it. You might get a glimpse of the shintai, the sacred object which bears the spirit of the deity. Sometimes the shintai is a wand of bamboo with paper streamers, or another simple and common object.
At the shrine, you will see lots of little talismans, commonly called omamori, which contain blessings. An attendant at my local shrine told me that the colours of the packets are really just a matter of taste. Omamori are meant to bring good fortune, safety, and health. Some talismans are carried on your person. Others are taken home and placed in the family’s household altar. As a break in your busy day in the city, or a quiet place for reflection, or an insight into Japanese culture, a shrine visit gives you a taste of Japanese life.
Recent Comments