How to Worship

Why I Learned How to Worship

When do you visit shrine to worship? Generally, we visit shrine to worship when before examination, Shichigosan and Hatsumoude and so on. Shichigosan is Japanese event to celebrate children when they turn 3, 5 and 7 years old. Hatsumoude is the first shrine visit of the New Year. By visiting the shrine, we pray to the gods for recovery from illness, safety, and academic achievement.

I often go on family trips, and I visit shrines every time I go sightseeing. This time, I would like to introduce the method of worship that I have acquired while visiting many shrines.

 

The Best Way to Worship that I Have Learned

<List of things>

・Five-yen coin for offering

・No fancy clothes

 

1. First, pass through the torii. it is the gate that separates the place where gods live and the place where human live. And bow lightly, before passing through the torii.

2. Second, go to the "chozuya", after passing through the torii gate. When walking along the approach to the chozuya, walk on the edge of the road instead of in the middle. This is because there is an idea in Japan that the middle of the road is the road that the gods pass. “Chozuya” is the place to cleanse hands and mouth. This is called "chozu". When you wash your hands and mouth, use only one ladle.

3. When you arrive at the chozuya, wash your hands first. At this time, cleanse the left hand first and then the right hand. When washing your left hand, hold the ladle with your right hand and pour water over your left hand. Reverse the above when washing your right hand. I think that using about 30% of the water in the ladle to wash one hand is just right.

 

4. Next, rinse your mouth. Don't put your mouth directly on the ladle, so take water in your left hand and rinse your mouth with it. After rinsing out your mouth, cleanse your left hand again with water from the ladle because you used your left hand to bring the water to your mouth.

5. At the end of the "chozu", cleanse used ladle and return it to its original position. When cleanses the ladle, hold the ladle vertically and dash remaining water into the handle. Use up all the water. After washing, return the ladle to its original position. If a shrine does not have a ladle, skip this section.

From: https://www.ac-illust.com/

The shrine I visited did not have a ladle I'll put an illustration because the shrine I visited didn't have a ladle.

6. After washing your hands, head to the worship hall and make an offering. In offertory, throw a five-yen coin into the offertory-box. In Japan, it is said that a five-yen coin is good, because the sound of five-yen and Japanese word of "Goen" that mean good luck are same. When throwing coins, don't throw them as hard as you can, but throw them in gently. By the way, even if you can't make an offering, you can worship at a shirine.

 

7. Then, ring the bell after making the offering. In most cases, the rope of the bell is held with both hands and ringed 2-3 times. Some people believe that this is to drive away evil spirits from worshippers and others believe that it is to call the gods. However, shrines without bells can skip this process.

From: https://www.ac-illust.com/

The shrine I mentioned didn't have a bell, so I'll post an illustration.

8. After ringing the bell, finally worship. The basic style is two bows, two clapping, and one bow. Bow at this time by bending your waist at 90 degrees. For clapping, place your hands at chest level and lower your right hand slightly to clap.

 

9. After worshiping, go home through the torii gate. On the way back, we pass by the side of the road, just as we came. When you leave the torii, bow lightly once and the worship is over.

 

Suggestion for Modification

If you want to receive a goshuinchou or draw an omikuji, I think you should do it after the offering. The shrine called Ise Jingu is said to be the highest shrine in Japan because Amaterasu Omikami is enshrined there. I recommend that you pay a visit when you go sightseeing in Mie Prefecture or nearby prefectures. In addition, although the method of worship introduced is a general one, there may be different procedures depending on the shrine. When you visit a shrine, please check the manners of the shrine. It is interesting to know the difference in procedure. In Japan, there are many opportunities to visit shrines, so I think it is very good to know the manners of worship.