This is a rope hung out to distinguish sacred places from the rest; the shime of shimenawa means "taboo". In addition to being hung in the main building at Shinto shrines and on Shinto shrine archways, shimenawa are seen on Shinto family altars, and the New Year sacred straw festoon is made by attaching various good luck charms to the shimenawa. And the belt or "sideways rope"(a literal translation of yokozuna which means the grand champion) worn by the grand champion in sumo is another form of the shimenawa.
In Shinto, a sin committed by man, whose nature is good, is considered to be caused by impurity. Since anybody, without knowing it, can acquire impurity, and sins and misfortunes occur if it accumulates. Receiving oharai from time to time has been thought necessary to cleanse the impurities. There are various kinds of oharai. For example, in addition to sprinkling salt or cleaning one's hands or mouth with water, which can be done by oneself, calamity and impurity are also exorcised by having Shinto priests wave in a sweeping motion a sacred staff with cut paper at shrines.
With yakudoshi there is a big chance of encountering misfortune or injuring one's health, so it is an age when one must be careful. This happens when men turn 25, 42 and 60, and women 19 and 33, in the yakudoshi measurement. One's yakudoshi is measured by adding one to the actual age. The ages of 42 for men and 33 for women are considered to be particularly bad years, and are called "great calamity." This may be just a superstition, but, because there have been many occasions when these ages actually have corresponded to turning points in people's health or jobs, there are those who go to Shinto shrines for exorcism.
Kamidana are altars, generally installed in the home above the lintel, where charms and amulets from Shinto shrines are enshrined at. The altars are made of wood with roofs and steps, and the charms and amulets are put in the center. Occasionally, sake, food and candles are offered, and people prayed for family safety and business prosperity in front of the kamidana. Until not long ago, most homes had kamidana, but recently they have decreased in number.
Butsudan are altars for enshrining and worshipping Buddhist images and mortuary tablets, and the term generally refers to Buddhist altars placed in the home. A Buddhist image or picture, or else ancestral tablets are placed in its center. In addition, BuddhismBuddhist altar equipments, like candlesticks, incense burners and bells, are set up, and incense is burned while offering prayers in the morning and evening. Butsudan can probably be called the place in the home for ancestors' memorial services.
Bukkyo came to Japan in the middle of the sixth century. Supporters of bukkyo subsequently won a victory in the political power struggles of the time; building temples in every area under government patronage, it spread throughout the country. In the Kamakura Period(1185-1333), as a number of new leaders appeared and deepened its philosophy, bukkyo made clear its position of saving the weak. The Zen Buddhism was brought to Japan in the Kamakura Period by priests who studied in China, and it flourished principally as the religion of samurai. At present, a culture in Japan that has bukkyo as its backdrop has laid roots deeply in the lives of the people and, together with Shinto, forms the spiritual culture of the Japanese people. Also, even today new sects of bukkyo keep emerging and gaining believers.
Buddhist temples are where priests and nuns reside to practice ascetic exercises and Buddhist ceremony, and Buddhist images are enshrined. At the entrances are two-story temple gates, then come buildings such as the main temple, an auditorium, a pagoda, a bell tower. Almost all the roofs are tiled. Most graves are set within the temple site in Japan. People go to temples during the Bon Festival and equinoctial week to visit the graves of their ancestors, and relatives gather on the anniversaries of the dead and have priests recite sutras in the temple. On the other hand, there are numerous temples in Kyoto and Nara that have more than 1,000 years of history and have been identified as places of sightseeing interest. People visit such temples for the pleasure of appreciating the structures and the Buddhist images.
So are persons who renounce the world and enter the priesthood. They usually shave their heads and wear a Buddhist priest's stole. There are occasions when spiritual cultivation is continued through rigorous austerities, like being pelted by a waterfall, but most priests are also married at their choice. The majority reside in temples where they practice ascetic disciplines, maintain graves, and chant Buddhist sutras for memorial services held at their temples. They also go to chant sutras in homes for funerals and for some private memorial services.
Juzu are held in the hands when praying to Buddha or the dead, or for counting the number of times Buddhist prayers are recited by handling the beads. It is similar to the Catholic rosary. Juzu are held in the hands when worshipping Buddha and also when paying respects to the spirits of the dead upon visiting their graves. There are usually 108 juzu beads which are said to remove the 108 worldly desires cited in the Buddhist teaching.
Zenshu is one sect of Buddhism. In the first half of the sixth century, Indian Bodhidharma introduced Zen to China, and in the Kamakura Period(1185-1333) people like Eisai and Dogen brought it from China to Japan. Zen has rendered a strong influence on the way of the warrior, as well as the traditional culture like the tea ceremony, and on every aspect of the lives of the Japanese people. Because truth, according to the Zen teaching, goes beyond verbal expression, enlightenment can be realized only through sitting in meditation and training in calming the self.