First off: Shrine or Temple?
You might realize that many articles often use the words shrine or temple interchangeably, there is actually a difference between the two. There are two main religions in Japan: Shinto (神道, Shintō) and Buddhism (仏教, Bukkyō). The history of these two religions in Japan is a long and complicated one, but to broadly generalize: Shinto is a religion native to Japan and revolves around the idea that all things are inhabited by spirits (the rocks, the trees, the rivers, etc.), whereas Buddhism is a religion imported from overseas, with numerous local sects of Buddhism in Japan.
So a jinja (神社) is a Shinto Shrine, while a tera (寺) is a Buddhist Temple. Characteristic of shrines are the presence of torii, and characteristic of temples are the use of incense burners and the absence of torii gates. That being said, the two religions have existed for a long time in Japan, and have intermingled quite a fair bit, so don’t be surprised to find the presence of both Buddhism and Shinto in shrines or temples.
Entering a Shrine: Passing through the Torii Gates
The entrance to shrines are usually demarcated by torii (鳥居), thought to be holy boundaries to the sacred shrine. Visitors typically bow slightly as they pass through each torii. Approaches to the shrine typically have wide open paths, visitors should keep to either side of the path as the center is thought to be reserved for the deities.
Cleansing your hands: Using the water fountains
Before you enter a shrine, there is typically a small hut that contains a water fountain. This water fountain typically comes with a wooden ladle, and is surrounded by a drain on all sides as the water overflows from the fountain. The idea is to use the fountain to cleanse all impurities before entering, and so you need to wash your hand and mouth before entering the shrine.
The process is as follows:
- Pick up the ladle with your right hand and scoop some of the water
- Pour some of the water on your left hand to rinse it, and then pass the ladle to your left hand
- Pour some of the water on your right hand to rinse it, and then pass the ladle to your right hand again.
- Cup your left hand, pour some water in it and then rinse your mouth with it
- Cover your mouth with your left hand and discretely spit the water back out into the drain below (not the water fountain)
- Wash your left hand a second time with the water in the ladle
- Tilt the ladle 90 degrees upwards so that the remaining water washes the handle
- Then place it back at its original place with the ladle facing downwards.
Then you’re good to go! It might sound like a complicated process on paper, but it is quite intuitive if you think about washing both your hands and rinsing your mouth while making sure the ladle doesn’t get contaminated.
Praying at a Shrine
Depending on your own religious beliefs, you might want to try praying at a shrine or just understanding the process behind it. Almost all shrines have a prayer area, with a prayer donation box located in front of it.
To pray, the process is as follows:
- Go up to the prayer box
- Toss a coin offering in (typically a 5 yen coin, as the Japanese pronunciation “go-en” has the same meaning loosely translated as a “respectful connection”)
- Bow twice
- Clap twice
- Pray silently
- Bow one last time
And that’s it!
- Bowing is supposed to show a sign of respect for the deity, thus you bow at the start, and also bow as you leave.
- Clapping is meant to wake the sleeping deity to hear your prayer.
Thus if you understand the logic behind the actions, the whole process becomes more intuitive.
The Shrine Shop: Omamori and Omikuji
Most shrines typically have a shop that sells omamoris (お守り, Amulet) and omikuji (おみくじ, Sacred Lot).
If you see long rows of small cloth pouches lined up outside the shop, those are omamoris. Mamori means to protect, while the O is an honorary prefix. These small cloth pouches carry a small prayer inside, with the shrine’s name embroidered on the cloth and come with a thread to hang on. There are different types of omamori for different purposes: success, wealth, health, traffic safety, keeping evil away, studies, love, and more.
People typically hang their omamori on the outside of their bags, or keep it amongst their personal belongings that they carry around. Never ever look inside the omamori, as it is thought that the “blessing” would escape from the cloth pouch. These omamori typically come with an expiration date of a year, whereby you can then return to the omamori to the shrine where they will be disposed off in a sacred flame.
The other popular thing to get at shrine shops is an omikuji. More often than not, these are at self-service boxes where you pop in a 100 yen coin at the side, and then grab one of the pieces of papers from the box. Once you’ve done it, you can unfold it and read your fortune (or ask someone who can read Japanese to read it for you).
In general, these are the typical fortunes on an omikuji:
- Great blessing (大吉, Daikichi)
- Medium blessing (中吉, Chūkichi)
- Small blessing (小吉, Shōkichi)
- Blessing (吉, Kichi)
- Future blessing (末吉, Suekichi)
- Unlucky (凶, Kyō)
- Very unlucky (大凶, Daikyō)
Apart from the general fortune at the top, some omikuji also offer readings for smaller aspects such as love (恋, koi), travel (旅, tabi), health (健康, kenkō), etc. These are usually located lower down on the omikuji.
You might notice many slips of paper being tied on a tree or a fence nearby, these are omikuji slips that others have tied up. Typically, people tie up unlucky omikujis, and keep lucky omikujis in their wallet. The idea is to tie your fortune to the spirit of the tree, and ask it for help in assisting your fortunes.
Leaving the Shrine
Most shrines only have a single route in and a single route out. The things to take note of are largely the same as when entering, keeping to the side of the path, and as you leave a torii gate to turn, face the shrine, and bow, before continuing on.
And that’s the quick summary of all you need to know when visiting a shrine here in Japan! While this guide was written for shrines, many of the same principles and ideas still apply at temples, so don’t be too worried about which of the two that you are going.
