{"id":2418,"date":"2020-03-20T13:27:58","date_gmt":"2020-03-20T04:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vhbloglive.wpengine.com\/?p=2418"},"modified":"2020-03-20T13:27:59","modified_gmt":"2020-03-20T04:27:59","slug":"the-difference-between-shrines-and-temples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/japanese-apartment-life\/the-difference-between-shrines-and-temples\/","title":{"rendered":"The Difference Between Shrines and Temples"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When it comes to\nplanning a trip to Japan many people will prioritize seeing the many shrines\nand temples that are scattered across the country. They are as large as some\nuniversity campuses and as small as a shed in the side of the road. The\ndifference is in what they are used for, and how you are supposed to interact\nwith them. They will have distinct looks and even have specific spots that they\nmust occupy to be effective. It is good to know the difference and how to\ninteract with them accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Size Matters<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First of all, the\nsize of a shrine is typically much smaller than that of a temple. Shrines are\nusually put into place as a means to ward off spirits, to use as a tribute to\ngood deities, or bad ones, and to signify the resting place of loved ones or a\nparticularly well-known individual. You will find shrines everywhere in Japan\nand each one will have its own meaning for being erected. It is common to be\nwalking on one of the streets in Tokyo to find a small shrine nestled between\ntwo ten-story buildings. The shrines will have some kind of tribute given to\nthem such as drinks, mostly alcohol, small foods like fruits, and incense being\nburned at different times of the day. You can offer small tributes as well\nsince they are meant to please the spirit or deity that is supposed to\nencompass the area. You do not pray or worship at these places, they are only\nmeant to hold an item or a spirit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Temples, on the\nother hand, are made to accommodate large groups of people and are used as a\nplace of worship. Every town and city will at least one major temple in it and\nit will be used for major events as well as everyday prayers and visitors. You\nwill typically have the main shrine which will be closed on most days with a\nmoney box and a large rope with a bell tied to it. There you will offer some\nmoney, it is customary to give a five-yen piece but if you don’t have it you\ncan use other coins, and then your prayers as after you ring the bell. There is\nan area at each one that allows you to clean your hands and rinse your mouth\nbefore praying to the temple. This is meant as a way to cleanse yourself before\nperforming your prayer so your prayers can be heard more clearly by the gods or\nspirits. There are shrines on the grounds as well, so you can see the other\nspiritual areas of the temples. Some temples are also used as training grounds\nfor monks that are aspiring to become a full-fledged clergyman. They live on\nthe grounds and take care of the area as they pray and perform duties meant for\nmonks. You can hear them chanting their mantras at different times of the day,\nand they hold special sessions that are open to the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Look but Don\u2019t Touch<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When you go to\nthe main shrines, especially the larger ones with ornate paintings inside the\nmain halls, you will see a lot of signs that tell you to not take any pictures.\nMost of the artwork of the items in the shrine or sacred or blessed and are not\nmeant to be shown to everyone in the world. If you simply look around at each\nplace you will see when it is or isn’t ok to take photos. Everything on the\ngrounds is usually ok though, and most places encourage you to take lots of\nphotos to spread the word of their temples. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the shrines\nare sacred objects, and they can be statues, weapons, or trinkets with great\nvalue. It shouldn’t have to be said, but these are very important items and\nshould not touch them. The only people allowed to handle them are the priests\nor the people hired to do maintenance or the area. If you don’t listen to the\nrules you will be asked to leave immediately and can even be banned from the\ntemple if it is an egregious offense. Be mindful of where you are and try to\nfollow the rules to the best of your ability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your Fortune Will be Told<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Temples in Japan\nwill usually have an area that allows you to pay for a fortune. It will usually\nuse the honor system, in which there is no machine to put money in to get the\nfortune and you just pay because it is the right thing to do. Some temples only\nhave their fortunes in Japanese, but the larger more popular ones have started\nto put other languages on them, and they have gained popularity because of it.\nYou can get a few kinds of fortunes ranging from the best to the worst. If you\nhappen to get a bad fortune you can tie it to a small shrine board of tree and\npray for your bad luck to be taken from you by the shrine deity. This is a very\ninteresting way in which they play off of each other, and it is a reason why\nthey are so intertwined with each other’s existence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Events<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The shrines in\nthe country will have their own events or festivals attached to them. There may\nbe times throughout the year that people will give extra tithes to the shrine spirits,\nbut it isn’t a large affair. The temples are where the festivities will occur,\nand they are used many times throughout the year. The biggest of these events\nis New Years, and every temple becomes crowded with people. It is a tradition\nto ring in the new year with the temple bells and try to get rid of all of the\nbad energy you gained in the previous year. You can do this by praying at the\nmain hall and offering to the shrines on the temple grounds. There are many\nother events and each area will have its own festivities that you can join in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It is one of the best\nthings to see in the country, and they are still used widely by the people of\nJapan. Try your best to follow what the others around you are doing, and don’t\nworry if you make mistakes from time to time. They will be understanding if you\naren’t perfectly following every small rule, and some will teach you how to\npray or make offerings correctly. Shrines and temples can make for a fun way to\nexplore Japan through its cultural history, and you can use them as landmarks\nfor your vacation travels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When it comes to planning a trip to Japan many people will prioritize seeing the many shrines and temples that are scattered across the country. They are as large as some university campuses and as small as a shed in the side of the road. The difference is in what they are used for, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2419,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-japanese-apartment-life"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}