Shinto

==== Visits to shrines ====

Visits to the shrine are termed {{lang|ja-Latn|sankei}},{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=152}} or {{lang|ja-Latn|jinja mairi}}.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=11}} Some individuals visit the shrines daily, often on their morning route to work;{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=11}} they typically take only a few minutes.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=11}} Usually, a worshipper will approach the honden, placing a monetary offering in a box and then ringing a bell to call the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}'s attention.{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1pp=201–202|2a1=Littleton|2y=2002|2p=72|3a1=Cali|3a2=Dougill|3y=2013|3p=11}} Then, they bow, clap, and stand while silently offering a prayer.{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=204|2a1=Breen|2a2=Teeuwen|2y=2010|2p=3|3a1=Cali|3a2=Dougill|3y=2013|3p=11}} The clapping is known as {{lang|ja-Latn|kashiwade}} or {{lang|ja-Latn|[[Hakushu (Shinto)|hakushu]]}};{{sfn|Bocking|1997|pp=43, 90}} the prayers or supplications as {{lang|ja-Latn|kigan}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=96}} This individual worship is known as {{lang|ja-Latn|hairei}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=42}} More broadly, ritual prayers to the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} are called {{lang|ja-Latn|[[norito]]}},{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=135}} while the coins offered are {{lang|ja-Latn|saisen}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=149}} At the shrine, individuals offering prayers are not necessarily praying to a specific {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=11}} A worshipper may not know the name of a {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} residing at the shrine nor how many {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} are believed to dwell there.{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=202|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2p=11}} Unlike in certain other religions, Shinto shrines do not have weekly services that practitioners are expected to attend.{{sfn|Earhart|2004|p=12}}

[[File:Shinto Priest Blessing a Car at the Hokkaido Shrine.jpg|thumb|left|A [[Toyota Previa|Toyota Estima]] being blessed at the [[Hokkaidō Shrine]] in a ''kotsu anzen harai'' rite]]

Some Shinto practitioners do not offer their prayers to the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} directly, but rather request that a priest offer them on their behalf; these prayers are known as {{lang|ja-Latn|kitō}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=98}} Many individuals approach the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} asking for pragmatic requests.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=116}} Requests for rain, known as {{lang|ja-Latn|amagoi}} ("rain-soliciting") have been found across Japan, with Inari a popular choice for such requests.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=3|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=36}}
Other prayers reflect more contemporary concerns. For instance, people may ask that the priest approaches the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} so as to purify their car in the hope that this will prevent it from being involved in an accident; the {{lang|ja-Latn|kotsu anzen harai}} ("purification for road safety").{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=116|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=114|3a1=Picken|3y=2011|3p=88}} Similarly, transport companies often request purification rites for new buses or airplanes which are about to go into service.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=108|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=88}} Before a building is constructed, it is common for either private individuals or the construction company to employ a Shinto priest to come to the land being developed and perform the {{lang|ja-Latn|jichinsai}}, or earth sanctification ritual. This purifies the site and asks the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} to bless it.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1pp=190–196|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=68|3a1=Picken|3y=2011|3p=88}}

People often ask the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} to help offset inauspicious events that may affect them. For instance, in Japanese culture, the age 33 is seen as being unlucky for women and the age 42 for men, and thus people can ask the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} to offset any ill-fortune associated with being this age.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=183}} Certain directions can also be seen as being inauspicious for certain people at certain times and thus people can approach the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} asking them to offset this problem if they have to travel in one of these unlucky directions.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=183}}

[[File:熱田神社.jpg|thumb|Torii of Atsuta Jingū]][[Pilgrimage]] has long been important in Japanese religion,{{sfn|Kitagawa|1987|pp=xvii–xviii}} with pilgrimages to Shinto shrines called {{lang|ja-Latn|[[junrei]]}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=80}} A round of pilgrimages, whereby individuals visit a series of shrines and other sacred sites that are part of an established circuit, is known as a {{lang|ja-Latn|junpai}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=80}} An individual leading these pilgrims, is sometimes termed a {{lang|ja-Latn|sendatsu}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=158}} For many centuries, people have also visited the shrines for primarily cultural and recreational reasons, as opposed to spiritual ones.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=11}} Many of the shrines are recognised as sites of historical importance and some are classified as [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Sites]].{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=11}} Shrines such as [[Shimogamo Jinja]] and [[Fushimi Inari Taisha]] in Kyoto, [[Meiji Jingū]] in Tokyo, and [[Atsuta Jingū]] in Nagoya are among Japan's most popular tourist sites.{{sfn|Rots|2015|p=221}} Many shrines have a unique rubber-stamp seal which visitors can get printed into their stamp book, demonstrating the different shrines they have visited.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=192}}