Kamidana

Kamidana, “deity shelves,” are miniature Shinto shrines and may be found in traditional Japanese dojo. (The International Battodo Federation dojo in Tsurumi, Yokohama, uses a shared public school gymnasium, therefore, there is no kamidana.)

The plain, natural wood shelf faces east and is placed approximately eight feet above the floor to prevent accidental strikes from enthusiastic practitioners. Upon the shelf and positioned against the wall is a small jinja, shrine building, which houses a wooden tablets (o-fuda) that represent deities.

      The Kenshinkan Dojo has a typical kamidana enshrining the Jinja deities:
[Amaterasu Ofuda] · Amaterasu-Omikami, the goddess of the sun from the Great Shrine of Ise. Her ofuda (pictured left) is housed within the Kenshinkan Dojo's shrine building.

· Hayashizaki Myojin, (no Kami), the historical founder of iaido from the Hayashizaki Iai Shrine, shown to the right as a diety.
· Kashima-no-kami, the diety of swordsmanship from the Kashima Shrine.
[Hayashizaki Sensei as a Diety.]
The o-fuda to the left of the jinja as we observe it is the representation of Kashima-no-kami; the third o-fuda, to the right of the jinja, represents Hayashizaki-Myojin.


[O-fuda Kami of the Kashima Shrine]       O-fuda, like those shown to the left and right, come from main shrines dedicated to a particular kami (deity) and are believed to contain the essence of the kami. The kamidana should be situated so that the o-fuda face to the east (preferable) or to the south. O-fuda should never face north or west. [O-fuda for Hayashizaki]

Rice, saké, water, and salt are ingredients symbolic to Shinto. Rice is used as a daily offering to the kami. If cooked rice is used it should removed after being offered to the kami, then it should be eaten. Saké is a wine produced from rice; water represents cleanliness, and salt is used for purification.

On each side of the jinja, in front of the o-fuda are two vases with branches from the sakaki tree. An evergreen, sakaki is the sacred tree of Shinto. Directly in front of, and centered upon, the jinja are two wine jars filled with saké. In front of the saké is a water cistern flanked by two shallow saucers: the saucer on the left contains rice; the saucer on the right contains salt. The kamidana should be cleaned daily.

The twisted rice straw with paper streamers is the shimenawa. Shimenawa are used to indicate locations which are holy, or where kami dwell.

Sometimes kamidana are co-located with the shomen, the front of the dojo. This configuration is acceptable when the shomen faces the proper direction. In no circumstance should the kamidana face to the north or west. Additionally, in respect to other religions, a kamidana should never be placed together with or above other religious articles such as a butsudan, the Buddhist alter.

Followers of Shinto will bow twice (about 15 degrees from the vertical) to the kami, clap the hands twice, and bow once again. After the prayer is given, again bow twice, clap the hands twice, and bow. The final bow should be deeper than the others (about 30 degrees).

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