Japanese Temple & Shrine Glossary

A hall dedicated to Amida Nyorai, the Buddha of the Western Pure Land.

The era from 538 to 710 when Buddhism officially arrived from the Korean peninsula and the first full-scale temples in Japan were built.

The short, brilliant era from 1568 to 1600 when the warlords Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi reunified Japan.

A kingdom of southwestern Korea (18 BCE to 660 CE) and early Japan's closest ally on the continent.

The graveyard within a temple's precinct, where parishioners' family graves are tended and memorial rites are held.

The family temple where a household's ancestral graves stand and where its memorial services are held.

An enlightened being who postpones final buddhahood in order to save all others.

A bonsho is the large bronze bell of a Buddhist temple, struck from the outside with a wooden beam.

Christianity reached Japan with Francis Xavier in 1549, flourished for a generation, then was banned for over two centuries under the Tokugawa shogunate.

A hall dedicated to Kobo Daishi (Kukai).

The parish system binding every Japanese household to a Buddhist temple.

The enigmatic clay figurines of the Jōmon period, made for over ten thousand years before Japan had writing, temples, or shrines.

The ornate bronze bells of the Yayoi period, cast for ritual rather than music and finally buried in hillsides.

The era of peace from 1603 to 1868 under the Tokugawa shogunate.

An ema is a small wooden plaque on which visitors write wishes or prayers and hang at a shrine or temple.

A deity's special "connection day", when visiting its temple or shrine is believed to bring multiplied blessings.

A five-storied pagoda whose stacked roofs shelter sacred relics at the temple's symbolic heart.

A hall dedicated to Fudo Myoo, the wrathful protector who cuts through delusion with his sword and flames.

A goshuin is a hand-brushed seal stamp given at Japanese temples and shrines as proof of a visit, combining red ink stamps with calligraphy.

A goshuincho is the dedicated book in which goshuin seal stamps are collected, with accordion-fold pages.

The guji is the head priest of a Shinto shrine, the most senior member of its clergy.

The haiden is the hall of worship of a Shinto shrine, placed in front of the honden, where visitors offer prayers.

Cherry blossom viewing: strolling and picnicking beneath the blooming sakura in spring.

The unglazed clay figures that ringed the great burial mounds of the Kofun period.

The first shrine or temple visit of the New Year, made in the opening days of January.

The era from 794 to 1185, when the capital moved to Heian-kyō, modern Kyoto.

The era from 1989 to 2019 under Emperor Akihito, which ended with the first abdication in two centuries.

The week around each equinox when Japanese families visit graves and hold memorial services.

A treasure hall where a temple or shrine keeps and sometimes displays its most valuable objects — statues, paintings, ritual implements, and documents.

The honden is the main sanctuary of a Shinto shrine, the most sacred building where the kami is enshrined.

The hondo is the main hall of a Buddhist temple, housing the principal object of worship (the honzon).

The honzon is the principal object of worship enshrined in a Buddhist temple, usually a statue or image of a specific Buddha or bodhisattva.

A jinja is a Shinto shrine, a place dedicated to the worship of kami (Shinto deities).

A hall enshrining Jizo Bosatsu, the compassionate guardian of travelers, children, and the souls of the departed.

Jodo, or Pure Land Buddhism, is a school founded by Honen that teaches rebirth in Amida Buddhas Pure Land through chanting the nembutsu.

The True Pure Land school founded on the teaching of Shinran (1173-1263), today Japan's largest Buddhist tradition.

The prehistoric era of Japan, roughly 14,000 to 300 BCE, named for the cord-marked pottery of its hunter-gatherer people.

The New Year's Eve ritual in which temple bells are struck 108 times, once for each worldly desire that clouds the human heart.

Pilgrimage: a journey through a series of numbered sacred places, such as the Shikoku 88 temples or the Saigoku 33 Kannon circuit.

Sacred music and dance performed for the kami, the oldest performing art of Japan.

The era from 1185 to 1333, when the first warrior government ruled from Kamakura.

The deities of Shinto: the spirits enshrined at every shrine, from the sun goddess Amaterasu to the guardian of a single neighborhood.

A hall dedicated to Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion (Avalokiteshvara).

A kannushi is a Shinto priest responsible for performing rituals and maintaining a shrine.

A ceremonial gate crowned by an undulating karahafu gable, often lavishly carved and reserved for honored guests or imperial use.

The dry landscape garden of Zen temples, which evokes mountains and water using only stones, raked gravel, and moss.

The consecrated grounds of a temple or shrine, taking in its halls, gates, pagodas, and gardens.

A lecture hall where monks study scriptures and larger ceremonies are held.

The era from about 250 to 538 CE, named for the enormous keyhole-shaped burial mounds built for early rulers.

Komainu are the pair of lion-dog guardian statues placed at the entrance of a Shinto shrine to ward off evil.

The kitchen and living quarters of a temple, where the resident priest and family live and meals are prepared.

A sutra repository that stores Buddhist scriptures.

The prophesied final age of the Buddhist teaching, when practice decays and self-powered enlightenment becomes impossible.

A festival of a shrine or temple, from a small neighborhood rite to processions drawing millions of spectators.

The era from 1868 to 1912 when Japan modernized at breakneck speed after the fall of the shogunate.

A miko is a shrine maiden who assists with Shinto rituals and ceremonial dances at a shrine.

The ornate portable shrine in which a kami rides through the streets during a festival.

The gate marking the threshold between the everyday world and the sacred grounds of a temple or shrine.

The era from 1336 to 1573, when the Ashikaga shoguns ruled from the Muromachi district of Kyoto.

The era from 710 to 794, when Japan built its first permanent capital at Heijō-kyō, modern Nara.

The prayer Namu Amida Butsu, calling on Amida Buddha in trust of rebirth in his Pure Land.

Nichiren is a school of Japanese Buddhism founded by the monk Nichiren in the 13th century, centred on devotion to the Lotus Sutra through the chant Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.

A two-storied temple gate with a roof over each story, the grandest gate form in Japanese temple architecture.

A temple gate flanked by a pair of muscular Nio guardians (Kongorikishi) who repel evil from the sacred precinct.

The solemn ritual prayers recited by Shinto priests, composed in ancient Japanese and intoned in a distinctive slow chant.

The midsummer festival when the spirits of ancestors are welcomed home.

An omamori is a protective amulet sold at Japanese shrines and temples, usually a small brocade pouch containing a blessing for a specific purpose such as health, study, or safe travel.

Omikuji are paper fortune slips drawn at random at shrines and temples, predicting your luck from great blessing (daikichi) to bad luck (kyo).

Osaisen is the monetary offering visitors make at a shrine or temple, dropped into the offering box before praying.

A pagoda is a tiered tower at a Buddhist temple, traditionally built to enshrine sacred relics.

The current era, which began on 1 May 2019 with the accession of Emperor Naruhito.

A two-storied gate with a railed balcony on the upper level.

The saisenbako is the wooden offering box placed before the worship hall at shrines and temples, into which visitors toss a monetary offering before praying.

The hereditary warrior class that ruled Japan from the late twelfth century until 1868.

The sando is the approach path leading to a shrine or temple, often lined with stone lanterns, trees, or shops.

The sanmon is the main gate of a Buddhist temple, marking the entrance to the sacred precinct.

Sanpai is the act of visiting a shrine or temple to pray.

The bean-throwing festival on the eve of spring by the old calendar, held around February 3.

The devotional practice of copying a Buddhist sutra by hand with brush and ink.

The "seven-five-three" rite of passage in which children of those ages visit a shrine in mid-November to give thanks for their growth.

The zigzag streamers of folded white paper that hang from sacred ropes, wands, and offerings at shrines.

A shimenawa is a sacred rope of twisted rice straw used to mark off a sacred space at Shinto shrines.

The forced separation of Shinto and Buddhism ordered by the Meiji government in 1868.

The thousand-year fusion of kami worship and Buddhism, in which shrines and temples shared precincts, clergy, and deities.

Shingon is a major school of esoteric Japanese Buddhism founded by Kukai (Kobo Daishi) in the early 9th century.

Japan's native tradition of kami worship: a religion of shrines, festivals, and purification with no founder, no scripture, and no fixed creed.

The hereditary military ruler of Japan.

The shoro is the bell tower of a Buddhist temple, housing the large temple bell (bonsho).

The longest era in Japanese history, 1926 to 1989, spanning war, defeat, and the postwar economic miracle.

A Buddhist scripture that records the teachings of the Buddha.

A distinctive two-storied pagoda with a square lower level, a rounded white core, and a square roof above.

The short era from 1912 to 1926, remembered for Taishō democracy and a cosmopolitan urban culture.

The star festival of July 7, when the celestial lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi are said to cross the Milky Way to meet.

A sub-temple within the precincts of a larger temple, often founded to honour a senior monk.

A designed temple or shrine garden for contemplation, arranging stone, water, and plants to evoke a landscape in miniature.

Temizu is the purification ritual of washing the hands and rinsing the mouth at the temizuya before praying.

The temizuya is a water pavilion near the entrance of a shrine or temple where visitors purify their hands and mouth before praying.

Tendai is a school of Japanese Buddhism founded by Saicho in the early 9th century, centred on Mount Hiei.

A tera is a Buddhist temple, a place of worship and practice for Buddhism in Japan.

The certificate a Buddhist temple issued in the Edo period vouching that a household's members were registered parishioners and not Christians.

A three-storied pagoda, a compact tiered tower enshrining relics or a sacred image.

A torii is the gateway at the entrance to a Shinto shrine, marking the boundary between the everyday world and the sacred grounds.

The guardian kami of a particular place and its people.

A hall dedicated to Yakushi Nyorai, the Medicine Buddha, who is prayed to for healing and good health.

The era from roughly 300 BCE to 250 CE when wet rice farming, metalworking, and village society took hold in Japan.

Zen is a tradition of Japanese Buddhism that emphasises seated meditation (zazen) as the direct path to awakening.