Yorishiro

---

title: "Yorishiro" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["shinto-religious-objects"] description: "Object capable of attracting spirits called kami" topic_path: "society/religion" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorishiro" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Object capable of attracting spirits called kami ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Yuki_Shrine_-_giant_Sugi.jpg" caption="[[shinboku]]}}"] ::

A in Shinto terminology is an object capable of attracting spirits called ja, thus giving them a physical space to occupy during religious ceremonies. ja are used during ceremonies to call the ja for worship. The word itself literally means "approach substitute". Once a ja actually houses a ja, it is called a ja. Ropes called ja decorated with paper streamers called ja often surround ja to make their sacredness manifest. Persons can play the same role as a ja, and in that case are called or .

History

ja and their history are intimately connected with the birth of Shinto shrines. Early Japanese culture did not have the notion of anthropomorphic deities, and felt the presence of spirits in nature and its phenomena. Mountains, forests, rain, wind, lightning and sometimes animals were thought to be charged with spiritual power, and the material manifestations of this power were worshiped as ja, entities closer in essence to the Oceanian concept of mana. Village councils sought the advice of ja and developed the ja, tools that attracted ja acting like a lightning rod.

ja were conceived to attract the ja and then give them a physical space to occupy to make them accessible to human beings for ceremonies, which is still their purpose today. Village council sessions were held in a quiet spot in the mountains or in a forest near a great tree, rock or other natural object that served as a ja. These sacred places and their ja gradually evolved into the shrines of today.

The first buildings at shrines were likely just huts built to house some ja. A trace of this origin can be found in the term , literally meaning "deity storehouse", which evolved into ja (also written with the characters 神庫), one of the earliest words for a shrine. Most of the sacred objects found today in shrines (trees, mirrors, swords, ja) were originally ja, and only later became ja themselves by association.

Common {{transliteration|ja|yorishiro}}

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Meotoiwa.jpg" caption="iwakura}}: [[Meoto Iwa]], the Husband-and-Wife Rocks"] ::

The most common ja are swords, mirrors, ritual staffs decorated with paper streamers called ja, comma-shaped beads called , large rocks ( or , and sacred trees. ja are often considered to dwell in unusually-shaped rocks or trees, or in caves and earth mounds. ja can also be persons, in which case they are called .

Trees

Main article: Shinboku

Because of the emphasis on nature in Shinto, ja are often natural objects like trees. Significantly, in ancient Japanese texts the words and 社 were sometimes read as ja ("sacred place"), but also sometimes read as ja ("grove" or "forest"), reflecting the fact that the earliest shrines were simply sacred groves or forests where ja were present.

Part of the reading disparity may have been due to the confusion between similar characters 社 and 杜. Many shrines still have on their grounds one of the original great ja, a great tree surrounded by a sacred rope called . Now such trees have become divine by association, and no longer simply represent a ja.

Shinto altars, called ja – typically just square areas demarcated with ja (Cleyera japonica) at the corners supporting sacred border ropes (ja) – feature a branch of ja erected at the center as a ja.

{{transliteration|ja|Iwakura}}

Main article: Iwakura rock

Iwakura rocks are also common. An ja is simply a rock formation where a ja is invited to descend, and is therefore holy ground. With time, through a process of association, the ja itself can come to be considered divine. Archeological research in Japan confirms these sects to be ancient. In shrines, even today stones considered to be related to the shrine's ja are used to make food offerings to the ja.

Similarly an is a stone altar or mound erected as a ja to call a ja for worship. The concepts of ja and ja are so close that some suggest the two words are in fact synonymous.

In homes

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Maneki-neko-ja.jpg" caption="kami}} of luck."] ::

ja are most numerous in people's homes. During the New Year's holidays, people decorate their entrances with ja, which are the ja of the new year's ja. ja, plaques of wood or pieces of paper (similar to an ja) representing the ja, are hung above the door. There are ja who dwell in the toilet (ja) and in the well (ja). The ja lives in the oven, and its function is to protect the house from fires.

Other common ja are the small altar called ja and the ja, which is an altar for the dead. (ja were originally meant just for Buddhist worship, but now often contain also spirit tablets called ja, which are ja used to recall the spirits of one's dead ancestors). In shops one often sees clay cats with a raised paw called ja, or rake-like bamboo objects called ja supposed to attract good business.

Notes

References

• {{cite web|url=http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/2262 |title=The "Separate" Coexistence of Kami and Hotoke - A Look at Yorishiro |last=Nakamaki |first=Hirochika |date=1985-10-01 |access-date=2008-10-22
• {{cite web |url=http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=296 |title=Yorishiro |last=Okada |first=Yoshiyuki |date=2005-06-02 |publisher=Encyclopedia of Shinto |access-date=2008-07-18
• {{cite web |url=http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=251 |title=Iwakura |last=Sugiyama |first=Shigetsugu |date=2005-06-02 |publisher=Encyclopedia of Shinto |access-date=2008-07-18
• {{cite web |url=http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=252 |title=Iwasaka |last=Sugiyama |first=Shigetsugu |date=2005-06-02 |publisher=Encyclopedia of Shinto |access-date=2008-07-18
• {{cite web |url=http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=247 |title=Himorogi |last=Sugiyama |first=Shigetsugu |publisher=Encyclopedia of Shinto |access-date=2008-07-18
• {{cite book |last=Tamura |first=Yoshiro |title=Japanese Buddhism - A Cultural History |publisher=Kosei Publishing Company |location=Tokyo |year=2000 |edition=First |pages=21 |isbn=4-333-01684-3

References

1. Iwanami [[Kōjien]] (広辞苑) Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version
2. Tamura (2000:21)
3. Nakamaki (1983:65)
4. "Shinto Portal - IJCC, Kokugakuin University".
5. Sonoda Minoru in ''Breen, Teeuwen'' (2000:43)
6. Sugiyama, "Himorogi"
7. Sugiyama, "Iwakura"
8. Sugiyama, "Iwasaka"
9. "History of Ikebana | IKENOBO ORIGIN OF IKEBANA".

::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. ::