Way of the Kami

Ｉｋｉｇａｍｉ　Ｋｏｎｋｏ　Ｄａｉｊｉｎ　Ｔｅｎｃｈｉ　Ｋａｎｅ　ｎｏ　Ｋａｍｉ

生神金光大神　　　天地金乃神

Ｉｓｓｈｉｎ　ｎｉ　ｎｅｇａｅ

一心に願

Ｏｋａｇｅ　ｗａ　ｗａｇａ　ｋｏｋｏｒｏ　ｎｉ　ａｒｉ

おかげは和賀心にあり

Ｋｏｎｇｅｔｓｕ　ｋｏｎｎｉｃｈｉ　ｄｅ　ｔａｎｏｍｅｉ

今月今日でたのめい

。。。。。

Pray sincerely,

With all your heart.

Be one with Kami.

Kami’s blessings begin within

Hearts grateful and caring,

In harmony and joy.

Look to Kami always,

Now and forever.

On this very day, pray

daysofgodsanddemons:

Our group was lucky enough to visit quite a few temples and shrines throughout Tokyo. There are really two different styles: Buddhist and Shinto. I will quickly go through the differences so that from now on if I post a temple or shrine picture you can know what’s up.

Buddhist Features

- Pagoda - an evolution from Indian stupas (according to A Geek in Japan) where each level represents an element: earth, water, fire, air and void (very important elements in Buddhist philosophy)

- Main hall - sacred objects are kept here and there is usually a Buddha figure kept within an antechamber

- Gates - a crucial design element a Buddhist construction is having gates that face the entrances to main halls and other important buildings or rooms

Shinto Features

- Placement - usually in nature

- Torii gates - wooden pillars painted red or orange that guide you to the entrance of the temple/shrine

- Kitsune statues - fox statues that guard the outside of temples (kitsune means fox in Japanese)

- Omikuji fortunes - you buy a small envelope that contains a fortune. Once you read it you attach it to a fence, lucky branch, or set of strings so that if you got an unlucky fortune, tying it there will keep the bad fortune from following you.

- Tomoe symbols - a small circular piece made of iron with a water swirl symbol in the middle (used to indicate a piece of a samurai’s armor)

- Komainu guardians - lion/dog guardians that are placed outside of the shrine in pairs.

- Shimenawa ropes - thick ropes that mark boundaries of sacred grounds

Both

- Temizuya fountains - a short while before the temple or shrine entrance, where people wash their hands to cleanse themselves before entering

- Ema fortune tablets - small wooden tablets where you can write wishes. The tree that the tablets are hung around is thought to be a sacred tree with many spirits inside of it.