Shinto Shrines - Structure of A Shinto Shrine

Structure of A Shinto Shrine

The following is a diagram illustrating the most important parts of a Shinto shrine.

1. Torii - Shinto gate
2. Stone stairs
3. Sandō - the approach to the shrine
4. Chōzuya or temizuya - purification font to cleanse one's hands and mouth
5. Tōrō - decorative stone lanterns
6. Kagura-den - building dedicated to Noh or the sacred kagura dance
7. Shamusho - the shrine's administrative office
8. Ema - wooden plaques bearing prayers or wishes
9. Sessha/massha - small auxiliary shrines
10. Komainu - the so-called "lion dogs", guardians of the shrine
11. Haiden - oratory or hall of worship
12. Tamagaki - fence surrounding the honden
13. Honden - main hall, enshrining the kami
14. On the roof of the haiden and honden are visible chigi (forked roof finials) and katsuogi (short horizontal logs), both common shrine ornamentations.

The general blueprint of a Shinto shrine is Buddhist in origin. The presence of verandas, stone lanterns, and elaborate gates is an example of this influence. The composition of a Shinto shrine is extremely variable, and none of its possible features is necessarily present. Even the honden can be missing if the shrine worships a nearby natural shintai.

However, since its grounds are sacred, they are usually surrounded by a fence made of stone or wood called tamagaki, while access is made possible by an approach called sandō. The entrances themselves are straddled by gates called torii, which are usually the simplest way to identify a Shinto shrine.

A shrine may include within its grounds several structures, each destined to a different purpose. Among them are the already mentioned honden or sanctuary, where the kami are enshrined, the heiden or hall of offerings, where offers and prayers are presented, and the haiden or hall of worship, where there may be seats for worshippers. The honden is the building that contains the shintai, literally, "the sacred body of the kami". Of these, only the haiden is open to the laity. The honden is usually located behind the haiden and is often much smaller and unadorned. Other notable shrine features are the temizuya, the fountain where visitors cleanse their hands and mouth, and the shamusho (社務所?), the office which oversees the shrine. Buildings are often adorned by chigi and katsuogi, variously oriented poles which protrude from their roof (see illustration above).

As already explained above, before the Meiji Restoration it was common for a Buddhist temple to be built inside or next to a shrine, or viceversa for a shrine to include Buddhist subtemples. If a shrine housed a Buddhist temple, it was called a jingūji (神宮寺?). Analogously, temples all over Japan adopted tutelary kami (chinju (鎮守/鎮主?) and built temple shrines (寺社, jisha?) to house them. After the forcible separation of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines (shinbutsu bunri) ordered by the new government in the Meiji period, the connection between the two religions was officially severed, but continued nonetheless in practice and is still visible today.