Mina-san, we hope you had a great weekend! Here is the info we promised, courtesy of Yoshi!

When you visit a shrine, you are suppose to follow these directions even though many people in Japan no longer know these details. However, the most important thing here is your heart and your respect. The directions sometimes differ by shine, but these are a few of the the directions that we covered in the lesson.
- to bow when you enter the main torii gate.
- to avoid walking on the center of the path because it’s the path for God.
- to bow again before you leave front of the main shrine.

About putting money in.
It originally started as repayment of your thanks to God after your wish had come true, but it has become a part of visiting a shrine. You can still come back and give money also when you return. You also want to put the money in gently. It is part of letting God know about your visit, so a little noise should be fine. You ring the bell also if they have one.

Some article said to put one of each coin in:1 yen, 5 yen, 10 yen, and 50 yen to make it 66 yen total, but the authors we’re not sure about the reason. And it seems like most people are not certain about the amount you should put in. Lots of people put 5 yen (go-yen) according to the meaning of “Goen” good fortune or good encounter. Some people put 10 yen and 5 yen linking it to the sentense, “Jubun goen ga arimasuyouni” which means “I wish I have enough good fortune or good encounters.” As people like to link the amount of the money they put in to what they want to wish for, some business managers put 2951 yen on new years as you can read is as “Fu ku ko i” means “Good fortune come.” There are some people who think it’s better to give the money to the poor rather than giving money to God to have your wish come true, because they think that God wouldn’t mind about money at all and it is kind of selfish to ask God something by giving money.

This was Yoshi reporting! Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!

I thought it was strange to see instructions in Japanese for how to pray at a shrine in Karuma, Kyoto.

神社が好きです。

The other things at the shrine are interesting too.

omamori. お守り
these are amulets or lucky charms. There are various sorts, for love, marriage, exam success, safe travel, good health, etc. You buy them from the shrine attendants.
In the less touristy shrines I had a slightly difficult time getting the one I wanted. One to give fortune in study. My attempt at gakusei no omamori wasn’t understood by the Miko-san.

ema 絵馬
Prayer tablets.You buy them for about 500 円 and write your wish/prayer on them and hang them up at the shrine. I’ve also seen them at temples. These look great all hung up on racks. Very picturesque. And sometimes interesting to read the hopes written on them. I’m not sure if you’re meant to however. One girl had wished to get into Imperial College, I presume to study English.

A variation on this is at the Jisyujinga, the love god’s shrine, in Kyoto, you write your name and the name of your intended lover on two red and white cards and tie them to a garland around the gods statue.

Here’s a picture of the Emusobi no Kami and his garland
http://www.shiawase.co.uk/pres/source/58.html

and a very pretty Miko-san and the headpriest who chatted to me
http://www.shiawase.co.uk/pres/source/61.html

Sometimes instead of plaques there are woven braids (Futami, Ise) or miniature tori (Fushimi Inari shrine Kyoto)

Then there are omikuji おみ籤
These are fortune slips. (200円) Sometimes you just pick one out of a bowl, or there is a machine. More traditionaly you cast sticks that have numbers on them then the attendent gives you your fortune.
After reading it you tie it to a tree or a rack at the shrine. I’m not sure if this is to remove bad fortune or insure good fortune.
They are rarely in English (where I was) but with a lot of effort and a dictionary you can get the vague fortune reading prehaps.

Another thing at the shrines is bad luck years. (you thought “christmas cake” years was depressing.) certain years are deemed to be bad luck. The priests at the shrine will exorcise this bad luck for you.

( I think some of the ages are 32 for women, 41 for men. However the way of figuring out the year is a little different, maybe it’s add one year to a Western age and it’s calendar year rather than from your birthday — I think I’m not sure of this. Any ideas Yoshi-san?).

And while a tori (gate) usually marks a shrine I’ve found to my cost that the first tori by the road can by for a shrine halfway up a mountain (maybe it was a hill but it felt like a mountain)

long post again, well I said I liked shrines.

I put some more pictures here
http://www.shiawase.co.uk/jpod/jinja2/

I guess, taking the shoes off was presumed in your set of directions. BT, what is the torii gate?

Jasonさん、
Thank you for the answer.
ジョン

oops that should be Fushimi Inari Taisha not Futami Inari
oh for an edit button

hello, just a technical comment:
the ipod sound file 260 in the ilearning center about this lesson is not valid

Mina-san,
Excuse me for this personal note. Visiting a shrine brings back memories. I have just returned from a reunion of a small group (5!) of people who were part of the original 9 American AFS students. We were the first American teenagers ever to go to Japan as exchange students. We lived with host families in various parts of Japan for one summer. A Japanese guy who had been part of the welcoming committee came all the way from Tokyo to Connecticut (where we met) for the event. We had bought some sake and he showed us how to warm it properly! Yum!! We plan to meet again next year in Japan!! Now you know why I want to learn Japanese.

Jason-san,
Notice — I didn’t mention the year!
It was long, long ago.

Briggs-san, ye of little faith.
And, Jason-san, one of our own.

Your answer can be found in Beginner Lesson #20. We spent a lot of time on greetings. My personal favorite comes from the Alpha-male, Kazunori, “Mecha, mecha genki desu yo!”

http://www.japanesepod101.com/2006/01/17/beginner-lesson-20-looks-of-disbelief/

Belton-san, thanks for sharing those amazing pictures!!

Liz-san, thank you too for the story!

sylvie-san,

Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention! It has been fixed. Simply re-download the audio zip file.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

- Eran

And, Jason-san, one of our own.

What? You haven’t used it in a while.

Great lesson! Nagasaki Connection rocks, as always!

I didn’t try to ring the bell when I visited shrines - I saw people putting in money and ringing the bell, but I didn’t want to do something wrong and offend people. Good to know for next time!