Tokyo Shrines

There are 22,000 priests in Japan, of which approximately 3,000 are women.

Dendenmangu Shrine at Horinji Temple in Arashiyama, Kyoto, enshrines Denden Myojin, the god of electricity and radio waves, and is visited by people in the TV and IT industries.

Atago Shrine in Minato Ward, Tokyo, is located on Mt. Atago, the highest mountain in the 23 wards as a natural terrain mountain.

The professional staff who serve at shrines are called "priests. The term "priest" is also used to refer to the Shinto priesthood in general.

Since Shinto originally originated from nature worship, the objects of worship are so numerous that they are said to be "eight million gods.

It is considered good luck to dedicate an ema (votive tablet) to the left side of the shrine, with the horse facing to the left.

Shikinai-sha were divided into "kan'ei" and "kokun'ei," which were further classified into "osha" and "kosha," respectively.

Of all the Shinto shrines in Japan, about 20,000 are manned, and one priest often serves several shrines at the same time.

The gojintai, the central object of a shrine, is also called "yoriyoshiro," and the place or object where the deity dwells varies from shrine to shrine.

Tenmangu Shrine is dedicated to Sugawara Michizane, a scholar and politician of the Heian period. There are approximately 12,000 Tenmangu shrines and Sugawara shrines throughout Japan.

The forests maintained in and around the grounds of shrines are called "chinju no mori (woods).

The most famous of these is the "three sacred objects" that Ninigi no Mikoto is said to have received from Amaterasu at the time of his descent from heaven in the "Chronicles of Japan.

Ookunitama Shrine is located in Fuchu City, Tokyo, and is the head shrine enshrining from the first to the sixth shrines of Musashi Province.

Okinawa Prefecture also has the fewest number of shrines per 100,000 people, with 0.9 shrines per 100,000 people; Osaka (8.22) and Tokyo (10.68) are in second and third place, respectively.

The Outer Shrine, officially named Toyoke Grand Shrine, enshrines the deity Toyoke, the patron god of agriculture, industry, food, clothing, and shelter.

Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine in Osaka Prefecture is the head shrine of the 2,000 Sumiyoshi shrines in Japan. The three Sumiyoshi deities were worshipped as gods of navigation and purification.

The shrine with the largest site area in Japan is Meiji Jingu Shrine. It has a total area of 700,000 m2.

The entire 233-meter-high Mount Inari is the object of worship at Fushimi Inari Taisha, and Sei Shonagon wrote about his pilgrimage to the mountain in his "Pillow Book.

The Ise Jingu Shrine is basically self-sufficient in the production of food: rice is grown in the Jingu Jinden, vegetables and fruits are grown in the Jingu Gyoen, and salt is produced in the Yakisho.

The Tokyo Ten Shrines are Kanda Myojin, Nezu Shrine, Shiba Daijingu Shrine, Kameido Tenjin Shrine, Hakusan Shrine, Shinagawa Shrine, Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine, Oji Shrine, Hie Shrine, and Akasaka Hikawa Shrine, which were designated as associate shrines by the Emperor Meiji.

Meiji Jingu Shrine usually attracts the largest number of visitors for Hatsumode (New Year's visit) in Japan. The number of visitors is approximately 3.2 million on the first three days of the year.

Shrines have a rank that expresses their prestige, called "Shakkaku.