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Jinja & Torii, Chozuya & Honden or Shinden: Jinja (Shrines) are places for the worship of Shinto deities. It is said approximately 80,000 are registered as legal entities, and many smaller shrines are still around the country.

At the entrance of shrine approaches, Torii (a beam lies across two pillars, with a bracing beam close below it) stands. It’s there to demarcate the sacred precincts of the shrine. It’s not just a gate, but intended to make you aware that as you walk under it, you’re entering a sacred space. They are made of wood, stone and reinforced concrete as well.

After coming through the Torii, you rinse your hands and mouths in purification of spirit and body at Chozuya (a sort of roofed trough).

And you go and approach the Haiden (a hall of worship). Then there’s the sanctuary (Honden or Shinden) where the deity is enshrined.

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