Worship takes place in shrines built with great understanding of the natural world. There is no special day of the week for worship in Shinto - people visit shrines for festivals, for personal spiritual reasons, or to put a particular request to the kami (this might be for good luck in an exam, or protection of a family member, and so on). If a family has bought a religious object at a shrine they will lay this on the kami-dana, thus linking home to shrine. A mirror in the centre connects the shelf to the kami. The kami-dana is a shelf that contains a tiny replica of the sanctuary of a shrine, and may also include amulets bought to ensure good luck (or absorb bad luck). Many Japanese homes contain a place set aside as a shrine, called a kami-dana (kami shelf), where they may make offerings of flowers or food, and say prayers. Private and public worshipĪlthough Shinto worship features public and shared rituals at local shrines, it can also be a private and individual event, in which a person at a shrine (or in their home) prays to particular kami either to obtain something, or to thank the kami for something good that has happened. Shinto ceremonies have strong aesthetic elements - the setting and props, the sounds, the dress of the priests, and the language and speech are all intended to please the kami to whom the worship is offered. Shinto ritual is intended to satisfy the senses as well as the minds of those taking part, so the way in which it is carried out is of huge importance.
In keeping with Shinto values, Shinto ritual should be carried out in a spirit of sincerity, cheerfulness and purity.
It can take place in the home or in shrines.Īlthough all Shinto worship and ritual takes place within the patterns set when the faith was centralised in the 19th century, there is much local diversity. Shinto worship is highly ritualised, and follows strict conventions of protocol, order and control. People arriving to worship at Tosho Gu shrine, Nikko
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