Ofuda

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

Shinto and Buddhist talismans

title: "Ofuda" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["amulets", "exorcism-in-shinto", "exorcism-in-buddhism", "japanese-words-and-phrases", "shinto-religious-objects", "talismans"] description: "Shinto and Buddhist talismans" topic_path: "society/religion" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ofuda" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Shinto and Buddhist talismans ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Ofuda.jpg" caption="Grand Shrines of Ise]] (center) flanked by the ''ofuda'' of [[Yasaka Shrine]] (right) and [[Fushimi Inari-taisha]] (left)"] ::

In Shinto and Buddhism in Japan, an or is a talisman made out of various materials such as paper, wood, cloth or metal. ja are commonly found in both Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples and are considered to be imbued with the power of the deities (ja) or Buddhist figures revered therein.

Certain kinds of ja are intended for a specific purpose (such as protection against calamity or misfortune, safety within the home, or finding love) and may be kept on one's person or placed on other areas of the home (such as gates, doorways, kitchens, or ceilings). Paper ja may also be referred to as , while those made of wood may be called . ja, another kind of Japanese talisman, shares the same origin as and may be considered as a smaller and portable version of ja.

A specific type of ja is a talisman issued by a Shinto shrine on which is written the name of the shrine or its enshrined ja and stamped with the shrine's seal. Such ja, also called , or , are often placed on household Shinto altars (ja) and revered both as a symbol of the shrine and its deity (or deities) – containing the ja's essence or power by virtue of its consecration – and a medium through which the ja in question can be accessed by the worshiper. In this regard they are somewhat similar to (but not the same as) ja, physical objects which serve as repositories for ja in Shinto shrines.

In a similar vein, Buddhist ja are regarded as imbued with the spirit and the virtue of buddhas, bodhisattvas, or other revered figures of the Buddhist pantheon, essentially functioning in many cases as a more economic alternative to Buddhist icons and statuary.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Omamori_Kinkaku-ji_Ginkaku-ji.JPG" caption="gofu}}) distributed in [[Kinkakuji]] (left) and [[Ginkakuji]] (right) in [[Kyoto]]. These also serve as admission tickets to the temples."] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/GOOUHONGUU.JPG" caption="goōfu}} from [[Kumano Hongū Taisha]] in [[Wakayama Prefecture"] ::

The origins of Shinto and Buddhist ja may be traced from both the Taoist zh, introduced to Japan via Onmyōdō (which adopted elements of Taoism), and woodblock prints of Buddhist texts and images produced by temples since the Nara and Heian periods. During the medieval period, the three shrines of Kumano in Wakayama Prefecture stamped their paper talismans on one side with intricate designs of stylized crows and were called or the . At the time, these and similar ja were often employed in oath taking and contract drafting, with the terms of the oath or agreement being written on the blank side of the sheet.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Jingu_taima_gaku.jpg" caption="kakuharai}})."] ::

The ja currently found in most Shinto shrines meanwhile are modeled after the talisman issued by the Grand Shrines of Ise (Ise Jingū) called . ja were originally purification wands that wandering preachers associated with the shrines of Ise handed out to devotees across the country as a sign and guarantee that prayers were conducted on their behalf. These wands, called , were contained either in packets of folded paper – in which case they are called (also ja), due to the packet's shape resembling a sword blade – or in boxes called . The widespread distribution of ja first began in the Muromachi period and reached its peak in the Edo period: a document dating from 1777 (An'ei 6) indicates that eighty-nine to ninety percent of all households in the country at the time owned an Ise talisman.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/EeJaNaiKaScene.jpg" caption="[[ee ja nai ka]]}} triggered by reports of talismans raining from the sky."] ::

In 1871, an imperial decree abolished the ja and allotted the production and distribution of the amulets, now renamed ja, to the shrine's administrative offices. It was around this time that the talisman's most widely known form – a wooden tablet containing a sliver of cedar wood known as wrapped in paper on which is printed the shrine's name () and stamped with the seals of the shrine () and its high priest () – developed. In 1900, a new department, the , took over production and distribution duties. The distribution of ja was eventually delegated to the National Association of Shinto Priests in 1927 and finally to its successor, the Association of Shinto Shrines, after World War II. The Association nowadays continues to disseminate ja to affiliated shrines throughout Japan, where they are made available alongside the shrines' own amulets.

Varieties and usage

ja come in a variety of forms. Some are slips or sheets of paper, others like the ja are thin rectangular plaques () enclosed in an envelope-like casing (which may further be covered in translucent wrapping paper), while still others are wooden tablets (ja) which may be smaller or larger than regular ja. Some shrines distribute ja, which consists of a sliver of wood placed inside a fold of paper. The ja issued by the shrines of Ise before the Meiji period were usually in the form of ja; while the ja variety is currently more widespread, ja of the ja type are still distributed in Ise Shrine.

ja and ja are available year round in many shrines and temples, especially in larger ones with a permanent staff. As these items are sacred, they are technically not 'bought' but rather 'received' or , with the money paid in exchange for them being considered to be a donation or offering. One may also receive a wooden talisman called a after having formal prayers or rituals () performed on one's behalf in these places of worship.

File:Jingu taima cover.jpg|A ja still in its translucent paper wrapper. This cover may be removed when setting up the talisman in a ja. File:Koujin yama.png|An example of a ja (from Kōjinyama Shrine in Shiga Prefecture): a plaque with the names of the shrine's ja – Homusubi, Okitsuhiko and Okitsuhime – written in ja and its paper casing on which is written the name of the shrine or the epithet of its deity – in this case, Kōjinyama-no-Ōkami – and stamped with the seals of the shrine (middle) and its priest (bottom).

Shinto

ja such as ja are enshrined in a household altar (ja) or a special stand (ja); in the absence of one, they may be placed upright in a clean and tidy space above eye level or attached to a wall. ja and the ja that house them are set up facing east (where the sun rises), south (the principal direction of sunshine), or southeast.

The Association of Shinto Shrines recommends that a household own at least three kinds of ja:

  1. ja
  2. The ja of the tutelary deity of one's place of residence (ja)
  3. The ja of a shrine one is personally devoted to

In a 'three-door' style altar, the ja is placed in the middle, with the ja of one's local ja on its left (observer's right) and the ja of one's favourite shrine on its right (observer's left). Alternatively, in a 'one-door' style ja, the three talismans are laid on top of one another, with the ja on the front. One may own more ja; these are placed on either side of or behind the aforementioned three. Regular (preferably daily) worship before the ja or ja and offerings of rice, salt, water, and/or ja to the ja (with additional foodstuffs being offered on special occasions) are recommended. The manner of worship is similar to those performed in shrines: two bows, two claps, and a final bow, though a prayer (ja) – also preceded by two bows – may be recited before this.

Other ja are placed in other parts of the house. For instance, ja of patron deities of the hearth – Sanbō-Kōjin in Buddhism, Kamado-Mihashira-no-Kami (the 'Three Deities of the Hearth': Kagutsuchi, Okitsuhiko and Okitsuhime) in Shinto – are placed in the kitchen. In toilets, a talisman of the Buddhist wrathful deity Ucchuṣma (Ususama Myōō), who is believed to purify the unclean, may be installed. Protective ja such as , a depiction of the Tendai monk Ryōgen in the form of a yaksha or an ja are placed on doorways or entrances.

Japanese spirituality lays great importance on purity and pristineness (), especially of things related to the divine. It is for this reason that periodic (usually annual) replacement of ja and ja are encouraged. It is customary to obtain new ja before the end of the year at the earliest or during the New Year season, though (as with ja) one may purchase one at other times of the year as well. While ideally, old ja and ja are to be returned to the shrine or temple where they were obtained as a form of thanksgiving, most Shinto shrines in practice accept talismans from other shrines. (Buddhist ja are however not accepted in many shrines and vice versa.) Old ja and ja are burned in a ceremony known either as or , also ja or ja) held during the Little New Year (January 14 or 15th), the end of the Japanese New Year season.

File:Ofuda Arrangement.png|Various possible ways of arranging ja (ja) in a Shinto altar File:門前仲町 shrine secondary building 古いお札納め所.jpg|A place for returning old talismans at in Tokyo

Gallery

File:KUMANOGOOUHU.JPG|ja from Kumano Hayatama Taisha File:Kajikimen_(鹿食免).png|, a talisman issued by Suwa Shrine in Nagano Prefecture. At a time when meat eating was mostly frowned upon due to Buddhist influence, these were held to allow the bearer to eat venison and other meat without incurring impurity or negative karma. File:西野神社竈神鎮火札.jpg|An ja of the tutelary deities of the hearth (ja), for use in kitchens (from Nishino Shrine in Sapporo) File:Talisman Against Disease.png|Diagram of two talismans invoking the goddess Hārītī, the Ten Rākṣasīs, and the "Thirty Deities" (三十番神, ja), a Shinto-Buddhist grouping of thirty Japanese ja presiding over the thirty days of a lunar month against disease, from a Nichiren-shū ritual manual File:Chintaku Reifu (鎮宅霊符).png|Part of a series of seventy-two talismans (from the Chinese zh) known as or simply as . Originally of Daoist origin, these were introduced to Japan during the Middle Ages. File:神札 - Ofuda.jpg|ja and other ja File:Ōharaeshiki Shugo-fuda - 大祓式守護札.jpg|ja posted beside a doorway File:Ofuda jyuni gatsu nijyugo nichi.JPG|A , a handmade talisman against theft displayed upside-down. This ja is inscribed with the date the legendary outlaw Ishikawa Goemon supposedly died: "the 25th day of the 12th month" (十二月廿五日). Other dates are written in other areas, such as "the 12th day of the 12th month" (十二月十二日), which is claimed to be Goemon's birthdate. File:Ryogen1.JPG|According to legend, the Tendai monk Ryōgen (left) defeated evil spirits by assuming the terrifying form of a horned yaksha or ja (right). ja and ja bearing this likeness, known as , are available in some Buddhist temples. File:お守り (2895042886).jpg|Different types of ja and ja at Tsurugaoka Hachimangū in Kamakura File:だるま、お札、お守り等集積所.jpg|Place for returning old talismans (Hokoji Shrine, Takatō, Ina City, Nagano Prefecture) File:Shintoshrine-battleshipmikasa-may3-2010.jpg|A 'ship shrine' inside battleship ja (currently in Mikasa Park in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture). Beside the altar is a wooden ja (ja) from Tōgō Shrine (dedicated to the deified naval leader Tōgō Heihachirō, who used ja as his flagship) in Harajuku, Tokyo.

Explanatory notes

References

References

  1. "Shinsatsu, Mamorifuda". Kokugakuin University.
  2. (2016). "The Tao of Craft: Fu Talismans and Casting Sigils in the Eastern Esoteric Tradition". North Atlantic Books.
  3. (2017). "日本人が知らない神社の秘密 (Nihonjin ga shiranai jinja no himitsu)". Saizusha.
  4. (2007). "神社の由来がわかる小事典 (Jinja no yurai ga wakaru kojiten)". PHP Kenkyūsho.
  5. (2010). "日本の護符文化 (Nihon no gofu bunka)". Kōbundō.
  6. (1994). "大和路の仏教版画―中世・勧進・結縁・供養 (Yamatoji no bukkyō hanga: chūsei, kanjin, kechien, kuyō)". Tokyo Bijutsu.
  7. "熊野牛王神符 (Kumano Goō Shinpu)".
  8. (2006). "Explaining Pictures: Buddhist Propaganda And Etoki Storytelling in Japan". University of Hawaii Press.
  9. (2019). "Japan's Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage: The UNESCO World Heritage trek". Cicerone Press Limited.
  10. (2017). "Shinto: A History". Oxford University Press.
  11. "Kishōmon". Kokugakuin University.
  12. (2006). "Swords, Oaths, And Prophetic Visions: Authoring Warrior Rule in Medieval Japan". University of Hawaii Press.
  13. (2016). "Mountain Mandalas: Shugendo in Kyushu". Bloomsbury Publishing.
  14. "Jingū taima". Kokugakuin University.
  15. "神宮大麻と神宮暦 (''Jingū taima to Jingu-reki'')".
  16. "第１４章 神宮大麻・暦". Fukushima Jinjachō.
  17. (2010). "Resurrecting the Sacred Land of Japan: The State of Shinto in the Twenty-First Century". Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture.
  18. (15 April 2020). "三重）伊勢神宮で「大麻用材伐始祭」".
  19. "お神札".
  20. "教えてお伊勢さん (Oshiete O-Isesan)".
  21. "お神札、お守りについて (Ofuda, omamori ni tsuite)".
  22. (28 January 2021). "「天照皇大神宮」のお札の薄紙は取るの？それとも剥がさない？薄紙は包装紙って本当？".
  23. "神棚のまつり方".
  24. "Household-shrine".
  25. "御神札・御守・撤饌等の扱い方について".
  26. "お守りやお札の取り扱い".
  27. (30 July 2011). "Ofuda (talisman)".
  28. "お神札（ふだ）のまつり方 (Ofuda no matsurikata)".
  29. "お神札・神棚について".
  30. (2007). "「日本の衣食住」まるごと事典 (Who Invented Natto?)". IBC Publishing.
  31. "神棚と神拝作法について教えて下さい。".
  32. "神棚の祀り方と参拝方法".
  33. "奥津彦命・奥津姫命のご利益や特徴".
  34. "奥津日子神".
  35. "烏枢沙摩明王とは".
  36. (2019-11-24). "The Great Horned Master (Tsuno Daishi) (Ep. 43)".
  37. (2002). "Ryōgen and Mount Hiei: Japanese Tendai in the Tenth Century". University of Hawaii Press.
  38. (1998). "Practically Religious: Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan". University of Hawaii Press.
  39. "御神札について教えてください。".
  40. "お守りの扱い方".
  41. "知っているようで知らない 神社トリビア②".
  42. "どんど焼き".
  43. (22 December 2019). "どんど焼き【どんと祭り】古いお札やお守りの処理の仕方".
  44. "霊験無比なる「太上秘法鎮宅霊符」".
  45. (1915). "信仰叢書 (Shinkō-sōsho)". 国書刊行会 (Kokusho Hankōkai).
  46. (2017-12-26). "「十二月廿五日」五右衛門札貼り替え 嘉穂劇場".
  47. (2 December 2019). "京のおまじない「逆さ札」と天下の大泥棒・石川五右衛門".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

amuletsexorcism-in-shintoexorcism-in-buddhismjapanese-words-and-phrasesshinto-religious-objectstalismans