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In Shinto, , or when the honorific prefix ''go''- is used, are physical objects worshipped at or near Shinto shrines as repositories in which spirits or ''
kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...
'' reside.''Shintai'', Encyclopedia of Shinto ''Shintai'' used in
Shrine Shinto Shrine Shinto is a form of the Shinto religion. It has two main varieties: State Shinto, a pre-World War II variant, and another centered on Shinto shrines after World War II, in which ritual rites are the center of belief, conducted by an organiza ...
(Jinja Shinto) can be also called . In spite of what their name may suggest, ''shintai'' are not themselves part of ''kami'', but rather just temporary repositories which make them accessible to human beings for worship. ''Shintai'' are also of necessity ''
yorishiro A in Shinto terminology is an object capable of attracting spirits called , thus giving them a physical space to occupy during religious ceremonies. are used during ceremonies to call the for worship. The word itself literally means "approach ...
'', that is objects by their very nature capable of attracting ''kami''.


Description

The most common ''shintai'' are man-made objects like mirrors, swords, jewels (for example comma-shaped stones called '' magatama)'', ''
gohei , , or are wooden wands, decorated with two (zigzagging paper streamers) used in Shinto rituals. The streamers are usually white, although they can also be gold, silver, or a mixture of several colors, and are often attached as decorations to ...
'' (wands used during religious rites), and sculptures of ''kami'' called , but they can be also natural objects such as rocks (), mountains (), trees (), and
waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...
s () Before the forcible separation of ''kami'' and Buddhas of 1868 ('' shinbutsu bunri'') a ''shintai'' could even be the statue of a Buddhist deity. Famous ''shintai'' include the mirror (part of the Imperial Regalia of Japan),
Mount Miwa or is a mountain located in the city of Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, Japan. It has been an important religious and historical mountain in Japan, especially during its early history, and serves as a holy site in Shinto. The entire mountain is co ...
, Mount Nantai, the
Nachi Falls in Nachikatsuura, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, is one of the best-known waterfalls in Japan. With a drop of 133 meters (and 13 meters wide), it is the country's tallest water fall with single uninterrupted drop; however, the tallest waterfall ...
, and the
Meoto Iwa , or Married Couple Rocks, are a kind of rock formation seen as religiously significant in Shinto. They are a subtype of Iwakura rock According to Shinto, the rocks represent the union of the creator ''kami'', Izanagi and Izanami. The rocks, t ...
rocks. Many mountains like
Mount Miwa or is a mountain located in the city of Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, Japan. It has been an important religious and historical mountain in Japan, especially during its early history, and serves as a holy site in Shinto. The entire mountain is co ...
or the Three Mountains of Kumano (Kumano sanzan) are considered ''shintai'' and are therefore called .Ono, Woodard (2004:100) The most widely known and renowned ''shintai'' is
Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest p ...
. A ''
yokozuna , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the on ...
'', a wrestler at the top of sumo's power pyramid, is a living ''shintai''. For this reason, his waist is circled by a '' shimenawa'', a sacred rope which protects sacred objects from evil spirits. A
kannushi A , also called , is a person responsible for the maintenance of a as well as for leading worship of a given .* ''Kannushi'' (in Japanese), Iwanami Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version The characters for are sometimes also re ...
, that is, a Shinto priest, can become a living ''shintai'' when a
kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...
enters his body during religious ceremonies. The founding of a new shrine requires the presence of either a pre-existing, naturally occurring ''shintai'' (for example a rock or waterfall housing a local ''kami''), or of an artificial one, which must therefore be procured or made to the purpose. An example of the first case are the
Nachi Falls in Nachikatsuura, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, is one of the best-known waterfalls in Japan. With a drop of 133 meters (and 13 meters wide), it is the country's tallest water fall with single uninterrupted drop; however, the tallest waterfall ...
, worshiped at Hiryū Shrine near
Kumano Nachi Taisha is a Shinto shrine and part of the UNESCO-designated World Heritage Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range of Japan. The Kumano Kodō route connects it to other sites under the same classification, which are primarily locate ...
and believed to be inhabited by a ''kami'' called Hiryū
Gongen A , 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.Encyclopedia of Shint ...
. In the second, the ''
mitama The Japanese word refers to the spirit of a ''kami'' or the soul of a dead person. It is composed of two characters, the first of which, , is simply an honorific. The second, means "spirit". The character pair 神霊, also read ''mitama'', is ...
'' (spirit) of a ''kami'' is divided in half through a process called ''
kanjō in Shinto terminology indicates a propagation process through which a ''kami'', previously divided through a process called ''bunrei'', is invited to another location and there re-enshrined. Evolution of the ''kanjō'' process ''Kanjō'' was ...
'' and one of the halves is then stored in a ''yorishiro''. This is the process which has led to the creation of networks of shrines housing the same ''kami'', as for example the
Hachiman shrine A is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the ''kami'' Hachiman. It is the second most numerous type of Shinto shrine after those dedicated to Inari Ōkami (see Inari shrine). There are about 44,000 Hachiman shrines. Originally the name 八幡 was ...
, Inari shrine or
Kumano shrine A is a type of Shinto shrine which enshrines the three Kumano mountains: Hongū, Shingū, and Nachi [].Encyclopedia of ShintoKumano Shinkō accessed on October 6, 2008 There are more than 3,000 Kumano shrines in Japan, and each has received its ...
networks. Because over the years the ''shintai'' is wrapped in more and more layers of precious cloth and stored in more and more boxes without being ever inspected, its exact identity may become forgotten. The first role of a shrine is to house and protect its ''shintai'' and the ''kami'' which inhabits it. If a shrine has more than one building, the one containing the ''shintai'' is called '' honden''; because it is meant for the exclusive use of the ''kami'', it is always closed to the public and is not used for prayer or religious ceremonies. The ''shintai'' leaves the ''honden'' only during
festivals A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...
(''matsuri''), when it is put in a "divine palanquin" (''
mikoshi A is a sacred religious palanquin (also translated as portable Shinto shrine). Shinto followers believe that it serves as the vehicle to transport a deity in Japan while moving between main shrine and temporary shrine during a festival or when ...
'', a term usually translated in English as "portable shrine"), and carried around the streets among the faithful. The portable shrine is used to physically protect the ''shintai'' and to hide it from sight..


Examples

An example of the importance of a
sacred tree A sacred tree is a tree which is considered to be sacred, or worthy of spiritual respect or reverence. Such trees appear throughout world history in various cultures including the ancient Greek, Hindu mythology, Celtic and Germanic mythologies. T ...
is the 700-year old camphor growing in the middle of
Kayashima Station is a passenger railway station in located in the city of Neyagawa, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway company Keihan Electric Railway. One notable feature of this station is that it has a large camphor sacred tree growing i ...
. Locals protested against moving the tree when the railway station had to be expanded, so the station was built around it.


See also

*
Glossary of Shinto This is the glossary of Shinto, including major terms on the subject. Words followed by an asterisk (*) are illustrated by an image in one of the photo galleries. __NOTOC__ A * – A red papier-mâché cow bobblehead toy; a kind of ''engimo ...
*
Fetishism A fetish (derived from the French , which comes from the Portuguese , and this in turn from Latin , 'artificial' and , 'to make') is an object believed to have supernatural powers, or in particular, a human-made object that has power over ot ...
*
Sacred tree A sacred tree is a tree which is considered to be sacred, or worthy of spiritual respect or reverence. Such trees appear throughout world history in various cultures including the ancient Greek, Hindu mythology, Celtic and Germanic mythologies. T ...
*
Tree of life The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythological, religious, and philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The Assyrian Sacred Tree: A Hist ...
* ''
Yorishiro A in Shinto terminology is an object capable of attracting spirits called , thus giving them a physical space to occupy during religious ceremonies. are used during ceremonies to call the for worship. The word itself literally means "approach ...
''


Notes


References

*Encyclopedia of Shinto
Shintai
accessed on September 20, 2009. * * * {{Shinto shrine Shinto in Japan Shinto religious objects