Shinto - A Trip to the Shrine Trivia Quiz

Answer: Torii

Though there is no universally accepted origin or meaning of the torii, they are seen as the gateway from the mundane to the sacred in Shinto. My favourite story about the torii is that they are derived from a bird perch that the gods erected outside a cave.

The story goes that the goddess, Amaterasu, was insulted and went to sulk in a cave. When she did, all the sunlight went out of the world. To tempt her back out, the gods erected a giant torii outside the cave. They put a singing bird on it, and another goddess did a striptease, much to the amusement of the onlookers. Amaterasu peeked out of the cave to see, and the god Ame-no-tajikara-wo grabbed her and yanked her out of the cave whereupon she was forced to promise never to hide again.

Answer: One has its mouth open and the other its mouth closed

The komainu are derived from Buddhism, not native Shinto. However, as you will see the mix between the two religions is so strong that it would be impossible to separate them now. As with almost everything else in Shinto, the reason for the two positions of the mouths is unknown.

The most commonly given reason is that they represent the meditation sounds "Ah" (open) and "Mm"(closed). And so the creatures are in a constant state of warrior-like prayer for the safety of the shrine.

Answer: Put water into your mouth, swish it around, and spit

While many other religions are concerned with good and evil, or right and wrong, Shinto's main concern is with pollution or cleanliness. Shinto has no written or even traditional code of ethics. The Kami(gods) are believed to be everywhere and the main reason for Shinto is to give you the tools to placate the anger of the gods and to allow you to be free from spiritual pollution.

Answer: 5 yen

In Japanese, the word for 5 is "go" and yen is pronounced "en" when a number precedes it. The word "goen" means "having a good connection" to the gods and other people. Most people will always try to include at least one 5-yen coin when making an offering to the gods at a shrine.

Answer: Two bows, two claps, silent prayer, one bow

Yet again, this is shorthand for what happens at most shrines and is not true for all of them. Many shrines will have their own traditions as to the number of bows and claps you need to do, but the order above is the most common. The clapping is called kashiwade and along with bowing is used to show respect and honor to the gods.

While the number and timing of bows and claps may vary, you ALWAYS will do some combination of both.

Answer: This rock is a god

These paper streamers are called shide and have no connection to lightning or weather. They are put around things that are gods or sacred spaces. In Shinto, we have thousands, perhaps millions, of gods. When a god is manifest as a natural object (tree, rock, outcropping...) we put these ropes around them to signify this fact.

Many shrines will have a natural god or two as a rock on their grounds.

Answer: Sacred theater or musical performances are performed here

The kagura, or ritual dance, is connected to the tradition of Noh theatre. Originally, the dancer(s) were believed to actually become gods during the ceremony and they issued oracles and proclamations as a god. As time went on, the dance became more and more connected to the seasons and the rhythm of the year and less tied to the oracles, but oracular dance is still heavily practiced in western Honshu.

Answer: Curse Tom with boils, he is a bad man

The ema are shrine plaques that are made of wood and can be used for blessings, requests for aid, or even a simple message of kindness. After an ema hanging area fills up, the priest of the shrine takes the ema to a sacred storage area and then burns them and the wishes written on them go up to the gods.

The only rule about what to write is that you cannot wish harm on another. Some priests will tell you that if you do, the harm will redound to you.

Answer: Omikuji - Shrine fortune telling

This is Omikuji, a Japanese shrine fortune. They usually come in 4-5 different levels of fortune with a poem, saying, or words of advice on them. They almost invariably cost 100 yen and nearly all are good fortunes. The different levels are "Daikichi" - big luck; "Chu-kichi" - medium luck, "sho-kichi" - small luck, and "kyo" - bad luck.

There can also be several others including half-luck, future luck, just luck... Almost everyone will read their fortunes and then tie them to a wire fence-like structure to let the messages be taken to the gods for fulfillment or suppression depending on the luck you got.

Answer: A small cloth bag

These are "omamori" or good luck charms and they almost always look like a small, rectangular, cloth bag with a design or kanji characters stitched on them. They are stitched shut and you are not supposed to open them as exposing the piece of paper with prayers written on them would negate the effect of those prayers.

The most common good luck charms are for "good study", "good health", and "safe driving".