Shinto is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners Shintoists, although adherents rarely use that term themselves. There is no central authority in control of Shinto, with much diversity of belief and practice evident among practitioners.
A torii is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred, and a spot where kami are welcomed and thought to travel through.
In Shinto and Buddhism in Japan, an ofuda or gofu (護符) is a talisman made out of various materials such as paper, wood, cloth or metal. Ofuda are commonly found in both Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples and are considered to be imbued with the power of the deities or Buddhist figures revered therein.
A Shinto shrine is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, the deities of the Shinto religion.
Yasaka Shrine, once called Gion Shrine, is a Shinto shrine in the Gion District of Kyoto, Japan. Situated at the east end of Shijō-dōri, the shrine includes several buildings, including gates, a main hall and a stage. The Yasaka shrine is dedicated to Susanoo in the tradition of the Gion faith as its chief kami, with his consort Kushinadahime on the east, and eight offspring deities on the west. The yahashira no mikogami include Yashimajinumi no kami, Itakeru no kami, Ōyatsuhime no kami, Tsumatsuhime no kami, Ōtoshi no kami, Ukanomitama no kami, Ōyatsuhiko no kami, and Suseribime no mikoto.
Kamo Shrine is a general term for an important Shinto sanctuary complex on both banks of the Kamo River in northeast Kyoto. It is centered on two shrines. The two shrines, an upper and a lower, lie in a corner of the old capital which was known as the "devil's gate" due to traditional geomancy beliefs that the north-east corner brought misfortune. Because the Kamo River runs from the north-east direction into the city, the two shrines along the river were intended to prevent demons from entering the city.
An Inari shrine is a type of Japanese shrine used to worship the kami Inari. Inari is a popular deity associated with foxes, rice, household wellbeing, business prosperity, and general prosperity. Inari shrines are typically constructed of white stucco walls with red-lacquered woodwork, and their entrances are marked by vermilion torii. Both Buddhist and Shinto Inari shrines are located throughout Japan.
The Ujigami Shrine is a Shinto shrine in the city of Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. The shrine was built as a guardian shrine for the nearby Byōdō-in, and is adjacent to the Uji Shrine. In 1994, it was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as one of the "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto". The honden and haiden have been designated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs as National Treasures in the category shrines.
Kamigamo Shrine is an important Shinto sanctuary on the banks of the Kamo River in north Kyoto, first founded in 678. Its formal name is the Kamo-wakeikazuchi Shrine.
Shimogamo Shrine is an important Shinto sanctuary in the Shimogamo district of Kyoto city's Sakyō ward. Its formal name is Kamo-mioya Shrine. It is one of the oldest Shinto shrines in Japan and is one of the seventeen Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto which have been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The term Kamo-jinja in Japanese is a general reference to Shimogamo Shrine and Kamigamo Shrine, the traditionally linked Kamo shrines of Kyoto; Shimogamo is the older of the pair, being believed to be 100 years older than Kamigamo, and dating to the 6th century, centuries before Kyoto became the capital of Japan. The Kamo-jinja serve the function of protecting Kyoto from malign influences.
The Hokkaidō Shrine, named the Sapporo Shrine until 1964, is a Shinto shrine located in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. Sited in Maruyama Park, Chūō-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, the Hokkaido Shrine enshrines four kami including the soul of the Emperor Meiji. A number of early explorers of Hokkaidō such as Mamiya Rinzō are also enshrined.
Komainu (狛犬), often called lion-dogs in English, are statue pairs of lion-like creatures, which traditionally guard the entrance or gate of the shrine, or placed in front of or within the honden of Japanese Shinto shrines.
Hiyoshi Taisha (日吉大社) is a Shinto shrine located in the city of Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture Japan. This shrine is one of the Twenty-Two Shrines. Known before World War II as Hiei Taisha (日枝大社) or Hie jinja, "Hiyoshi" is now the preferred spelling. It was also known as the Sanno Gongen (山王権現). The head shrine in Ōtsu heads the seventh largest shrine network in Japan, with approximately 3800 Hiyoshi, Hie, and Sannō shrines nationwide. Torii of this shrine have a distinctive configuration, known as the "Sannō torii", with a gaggle above the main crossbeam. The 400,000 square meter precincts centered is designated as a National Historic Site, and the east and west main shrine buildings, the Nishi Hongū (西本宮) and Higashi Hongū (東本宮) are designated as National Treasures, and many of the structures in the precincts are designated as National Important Cultural Properties.
A gongen (権現), literally "incarnation", was believed to be the manifestation of a buddha in the form of an indigenous kami, an entity who had come to guide the people to salvation, during the era of shinbutsu-shūgō in premodern Japan. The words gonge (権化) and kegen (化現) are synonyms for gongen. Gongen shinkō (権現信仰) is the term for belief in the existence of gongen.
Shinto architecture is the architecture of Japanese Shinto shrines.
Ōmiwa Shrine, also known as Miwa Shrine, is a Shinto shrine located in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, Japan. The shrine is noted because it contains no sacred images or objects because it is believed to serve Mount Miwa, the mountain on which it stands. For the same reason, it has a worship hall, but no place for the deity to be housed. In this sense, it is a model of what the first Shinto shrines were like. Ōmiwa Shrine is one of the oldest extant Shinto shrines in Japan and the site has been sacred ground for some of the earliest religious practices in Japan. Because of this, it has sometimes been named as Japan's first shrine. Ōmiwa Shrine is a tutelary shrine of the Japanese sake brewers.
Niukawakami Shrine, also known as Nibukawakami Jinja, is a Shinto shrine located at Higashiyoshino in Nara, Japan.
The modern system of ranked Shinto shrines was an organizational aspect of the establishment of Japanese State Shinto. This system classified Shinto shrines as either official government shrines or "other" shrines. The official shrines were divided into
- Imperial shrines (kampeisha), which are parsed into minor, medium, or major sub-categories; and
- National shrines (kokuheisha), which are similarly categorized as minor, medium, or major.
Atago Gongen (愛宕権現) also known as Tarōbō (太郎坊), Atago Daigongen (愛宕大権現), Shōgun Jizō (勝軍地蔵) of Mount Atago is a Japanese kami and tengu believed to be the local avatar (Gongen) of Buddhist bodhisattva Jizō and Shinto goddess Izanami. He is mounted on a white horse and carries a ringed staff and desire-cancelling jewel. The cult originated in Shugendō practices on Mount Atago in Kyoto, and Atago Gongen is worshiped as a protector against fire and a god of war and victory by Samurai. There are some nine hundred Atago Shrines around Japan.
