ABSTRACT
There are two sacred places in every Japanese house : the Kamidana (神棚), or “god-shelf”; and the Butsudan (佛壇), or “Buddhist altar.” The first-named is the Shintō altar which is a plain wooden shelf. In the centre of this sacred shelf is placed a Taima or Ō-nusa “great offering ” (大麻) which is part of the offerings made to the Daijingü of Isé (伊勢大神宫), or temple dedicated to Amaterasu Ō-Mikami (天照皇大神) the First Imperial Ancestor. The Taima is distributed from the Temple of Isé to every house in the Empire at the end of each year and is worshipped by every loyal Japanese as the representation of the First Imperial Ancestor. On this altar, the offerings of rice, saké (liquor brewed from rice), and branches of sakaki-tree (Clejera japonica) are usually placed, and every morning the members of the household make reverential obeisance before it by clapping hands and bowing, while in the evening lights are also placed on the shelf. On this shelf is placed, in addition, the charm of ujigami (氏神), or the local tutelary god of the family, and, in many houses, the charms of the other Shintō deities also.
