Hokora Explained
is a miniature Shinto shrine either found on the precincts of a larger shrine and dedicated to folk kami, or on a street side, enshrining kami not under the jurisdiction of any large shrine.[1] DÅsojin, minor kami protecting travelers from evil spirits, can for example be enshrined in a hokora.
The term hokora, believed to have been one of the first Japanese words for Shinto shrine, evolved from, literally meaning "kami repository", a fact that seems to indicate that the first shrines were huts built to house some yorishiro.[2] [3]
See also
Notes
- Encyclopedia of Shinto, Hokora. Accessed on December 14, 2009
- The word literally means approach substitute. Yorishiro were tools conceived to attract the kami and give them a physical space to occupy, thus making them accessible to human beings.
- Book: Tamura
, Yoshiro
. Japanese Buddhism - A Cultural History . Kosei Publishing Company . Tokyo . 2000 . First . The Birth of the Japanese nation . 4-333-01684-3 . 232 pages.
References
- Encyclopedia of Shinto, Hokora. Accessed on December 14, 2009
- The word literally means approach substitute. Yorishiro were tools conceived to attract the kami and give them a physical space to occupy, thus making them accessible to human beings.
- Book: Tamura
, Yoshiro
. Japanese Buddhism - A Cultural History . Kosei Publishing Company . Tokyo . 2000 . First . The Birth of the Japanese nation . 4-333-01684-3 . 232 pages.
