5 Reasons to Visit a Shrine in Japan

Not counting the kamidana, the house Shrine, that nearly all Japanese homes and most businesses have, the Japanese have occasion to visit Shrines.

1. The first prayer of the year on New Year’s Day. The shrines can be packed when the economy is bad. When things are good, who needs god? Sound familiar?

2. Wedding ceremonies – chapel weddings, or western style weddings are replacing this custom to the shagrin or the temple priests…they make much less money. However, many very traditional Japanese homes, and there are a lot, still head for the temple or call the shinto priest to the wedding hall on this special day.

3. Babies – another rite of passage in the Japanese home. Kind of like a baptism for an infant in the church.

4. Shichi-go-san 7-5-3 when little girls and boys turn these ages…it’s time to dress them up and head for the shrine.

5. Festivals – matsuris – begin and end at shrines.

The shrine is a place of celebration for the Japanese. The Buddhist temples get the funerals….which depending on your beliefs can also be a time of celebration.