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A pair of foxes at an Inari shrine. A variant of the komainu theme is the fox, acting as guardian of shrines dedicated to the Inari deity. [7] There are about 30 thousand Inari shrines in Japan, and the entrance of each is guarded by a pair of fox statues. [19]
It appears on glass-like materials. The name was originally applied to the bodyguards of the Emperor of Japan. Statues of Zuijin are now often placed flanking shrine gates, similar to the Niō and Gozu and Mezu. The Zuijin are also associated with Dosojin, protector of crossroads and other boundary areas.
The Ujigami Shrine (宇治上神社, Ujigami-jinja) is a Shinto shrine in the city of Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. The shrine was built as a guardian shrine for the nearby Byōdō-in, and is adjacent to the Uji Shrine. In 1994, it was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as one of the "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto".
The main Inari shrine is the Fushimi Inari-taisha in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, where the path to the shrine is marked by around a thousand torii. [8] Inari shrines typically possess guardian figures in the form of foxes or kitsune. These guardian figures are messengers of Inari but are commonly thought of as the deity itself. [11]
An ujigami (氏神, lit. "clan deity/divinity/spirit") is a guardian kami of a particular place in the Shinto religion of Japan. The ujigami was prayed to for a number of reasons, including protection from sickness, success in endeavors, and good harvests. [1]
The famous torii at Itsukushima Shrine. A torii (Japanese: 鳥居, ) is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred, [1] and a spot where kami are welcomed and thought to travel through.
A type of kami that acts as a tutelary deity or guardian of a province of Japan or sometimes other areas in Shinto. Kunitsukami The general term for kami of the land, who live on earth, as opposed to the amatsukami who live in Takamagahara. They are considered personifications of the land, and are thusly associated with geographical areas along ...
A miko (), or shrine maiden, [1] [2] is a young priestess [3] who works at a Shinto shrine. Miko were once likely seen as shamans, [4] but are understood in modern Japanese culture to be an institutionalized [5] role in daily life, trained to perform tasks, ranging from sacred cleansing [4] to performing the sacred Kagura dance.