• About
  • Featured
  • Home
 
Muza-chan's Gate to Japan
12 years of travel throughout Japan
Discover Japan through the eyes of a seasoned traveler
  • A Japan photo per day
  • Travel in Japan
  • Customs & traditions
  • Japanese food
  • Japanese history
  •  Anime & otaku
  • Did you know?

Shinto Shrines, Saisenbako

Thu, January 24, 2013, by Muza-chan

Although with different origin and evolution, Shinto and Japanese Buddhism share some common elements. One of them is the way of receiving the monetary offerings: in front of the main building, you will always find a wooden box called Saisenbako (saisen means “coin offerings"), often beautifully ornate, like the one in my photo, with a special design: the box is covered with a metallic grid, so that the coins thrown in will make a loud noise.

Actually, unlike the usually silent rituals from the western world, the Shinto praying ritual (hairei) is quite loud: the visitor shakes the red-white rope to ring the bell, the coins are thrown in the saisenbako, then the visitor bows two time and claps the hands twice. After remaining for a moment with the hands united in front of the heart, the prayer ends with another bow…

Click on photo for higher resolution:
Saisenbako, Hie Shrine, Nagatacho, Tokyo
Saisenbako, Hie Shrine, Nagatacho, Tokyo
If you want to license my photos for commercial use, please contact me

EXIF Info:

Nikon D80
Lens: VR 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6G
Focal Length: 28mm
Aperture: F/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/60s
ISO Sensitivity: ISO 400
Kameari Koban, a police box for manga fans
Yesterday’s Japan Photo:

Kameari Koban, a police box for manga fans



  •  
     
    • # Sakura, cherry blossoms

    • # Kyoto travel

    • # Travel tips for visiting Japan

    • # Tokyo travel

    •  
    • # Modern Japanese architecture

    • # Japanese gardens

    • # The 12 surviving Japanese castles

    • # Japanese manhole covers

    •  
    • # Castles in Japan

    • # Traditional Japanese house

    • # Trains in Japan

    •  
    • # Night time photos from Japan

    • # Zen gardens

    • # The 12 surviving Japanese castles

  • Traveled areas 2007-2017
  • Creative Commons License
    Photos and text by Muza-chan are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
    If you quote or use photos from this site, you must give appropriate credit and a link to the site:
    "Based on a work at muza-chan.net"
    Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available by contacting us (privacy policy).