Shrines and temples: deities, Buddhas, worship steps, and goshuin
Tell shrines from temples by gates, ritual steps, priests, Buddhist halls, two bows two claps one bow, gassho, and goshuin fees.
Shrines and temples often stand close together, but they are not the same. A shrine belongs to Shinto and enshrines kami; a temple belongs to Buddhism and enshrines Buddhas or bodhisattvas. Japan has roughly 80,000 shrines and 70,000 temples.
How to tell the difference
The easiest clue is the gate. A torii gate marks a shrine; a sanmon or temple gate marks a Buddhist temple. A shrine usually has 4 core areas: purification basin, worship hall, main sanctuary, and shrine office. A temple usually has a main hall, bell tower, 3-story or 5-story pagoda if present, and a nokyo or goshuin office.
Shrine staff are kannushi or shinshoku, often connected to Jinja Honcho networks across more than 70,000 affiliated shrines. They do not shave their heads and may marry. Temple staff are priests or monks; rules differ by sect, but many wear robes or work clothes and some sects allow marriage.
Famous shrine examples include Ise Jingu, Izumo Taisha, Meiji Jingu, Fushimi Inari Taisha, Sumiyoshi Taisha, and Itsukushima Shrine. Famous temples include Sensoji, Kiyomizudera, Kinkakuji, Ginkakuji, Todaiji, Yakushiji, Kofukuji, and Honnoji; several date to periods before 1600.
Shrine worship
Bow once before entering the torii, and avoid walking down the exact center of the approach because it is treated as the kami’s path. At the temizuya, use 1 ladle of water and finish the 5-step rinse: left hand, right hand, mouth from the hand, left hand again, then the ladle handle.
At the worship hall, place the saisen gently into the box. A 5-yen coin is common because “go-en” sounds like good connection, but ¥10 or ¥100 is also fine. Ring the bell if there is one.
The basic shrine action is 2 bows, 2 claps, 1 bow. Izumo Taisha uses 2 bows, 4 claps, 1 bow; Ise Jingu has older formal patterns, but ordinary visitors can use the common form.
Temple worship
Bow before the sanmon and step over the threshold rather than on it. The purification basin works much like a shrine’s basin, and the same 5-step rinse is enough for visitors at Kyoto or Nara temples.
If a bell tower is open to visitors, ring the bell 1 time before worship, not after. Ringing after worship is sometimes called modori-gane and is considered inauspicious in many explanations at temples that allow public bell ringing before 17:00.
At the main hall, place saisen gently, ring the waniguchi if there is one, put your hands together in gassho, pray, and bow. Do not clap at a Buddhist temple such as Sensoji in Tokyo or Todaiji in Nara; clapping belongs to Shinto worship.
Goshuin
Goshuin are handwritten seals given after worship. They are not just tourist stamps. At a shrine the fee is often called hatsuhoryo; at a temple it may be nokyoryo or oshino. A normal seal is usually ¥300 to ¥500, while special double-page designs can be ¥500 to ¥1,000.
A goshuincho notebook costs about ¥1,000 to ¥2,000. Worship first, then go to the shrine office, nokyo office, or goods counter. Prepare coins, do not rush the person writing, and use a paper goshuin if direct writing is closed.
Direct writing is often available from about 11:00 to 16:00, though each site differs. It is acceptable to use one notebook for both shrines and temples unless a specific place asks otherwise.
Common mistakes
Do not clap at a temple, walk through the center of a shrine approach, put the ladle to your mouth, step on thresholds, or ask for a goshuin before worship. These 5 mistakes are common around Kyoto and Tokyo first-visit routes.
Within 49 days after a close funeral, some Japanese households avoid passing through torii because Shinto treats death as kegare. Buddhist temples are generally handled differently.
Useful terms
- torii
- sanmon
- temizuya
- two bows two claps one bow
- gassho
- goshuin