Temples and Shrines - "How to Shrine"
There are over 90,000 temples and shrines in all of Japan and I visited only a few them. And I want to share with you the traditions and practices you should follow to enjoy your time without feeling lost (like how I felt at first).
The difference between a shrine or temple is the religion it represents. Shrines (jinja) are places for Shinto worship and temples (tera) are places for Buddhist worship. In some cases you may find both at a site. These two ways of life were once at war and now they coexist in harmony.
One of the easiest was to tell the difference between a Buddhist temple and a Shinto shrine is by the Torii gate, usually at the entrance marking the mundane from sacred. Shinto is the traditional religion of Japan focusing on ritual practices that are to be carried out to connect the present day and the ancient past.
When entering a shrine you must show respect to the kami (the spirit or deity) so before entering the gate you bow once, and only enter through on the sides, because the center is reserved for the kami.
When you pass through the Torii you may come across the temizuya. Temizuya is the purification fountain. Water is a purifying force in the Shintō religion and an important step to worship.
There are a few steps to follow at The temizuya, you should see long handled scoops looking like ladles arranged on the fountain.
Step 1: Pick up the scoop with your right hand and ladle some water in the scoop (you should be able to complete the following steps with a single scoop of water).
Step 2: Pour a little bit of water in your left hand (making sure not to pour this water back in the fountain) repeat this process with your other hand.
Step 3: Cleanse your mouth, avoid touching your lips directly to the ladle as this is considered rude. Instead pour a little bit of the water in your hand and spit it out on the ground (don’t drink the water).
Step four: Clean the ladle with the remaining water. To do so, tip the ladle vertically so the leftover water can wash the handle of the ladle.
Now that you’re clean you can now talk to the gods, this is done at the haiden (offering hall) you should be able to easily identify the offering box by a wooden box with multiple slats on the top which allows your offering to fall to the bottom of the box. I found that these boxes can come in many sizes. Typically an offering could be anywhere between 5-100 yen. But the amount matters little. Its the intention and purity of the heart that the gods take into consideration (but it’s good to note that a 5 yen coin and 50 yen coin are associated with good luck, especially with relationships.
After you gave your offering you may now pray. Some shrines may have a bell or gong others may not. If there are, give it a good single ring to awake the gods to hear your prayer. The next order of things differs with the shrine you go to (I’m still unclear of how you know which is which) sometimes you clap twice first sometimes you bow twice first or two of one and one of the other. But any case here’s a good framework to use:
Step 1: Clap twice
Step 2: Bow once (deep bow 90 degrees)
Step 3: Pray
Step 4: Clap once
And bow once a final time to show respect and to dismiss yourself from the haiden.
So that is my complete "How to Shrine” step by step. Hopefully this was helpful the next time you visit a shrine.
A couple other things to note:
You might see vendors selling little trinkets within the temple or shrine. These are called omamori wich are talismans or charms. They’re good for one year and you buy them with specific “task” in mind like safety in traffic or good grades in school. To “amplify” their powers you hang them around their intended purpose, so if you asked for traffic safety attach it to your car keys or rear view mirror, or good grades, to your backpack or school locker.
The other thing you will see is omekuji which is a written fortune. And are random for tellings. These stations look different at different temples, and these can be good fortunes bad ones or anything in between. If you happen to draw a bad fortune, you don’t want to take that with you want to leave it there. There is usually a place you can tie it or sometimes there are trees you can use.
I found the omekuji to be quite fun, and they usually only cost 100 yen.
