Hokora

A small hokora in Kyoto. The swastika indicates Buddhist influence.
The character for Hokora or Ci shrine


Hokora or hokura (祠 or 神庫) is a small Shinto shrine. Sometimes they are built near larger shrines. Other times they are built near streets.[1] Sometimes they are built to host minor kami who protect travelers.[1]

The term hokora is an old word for Shinto shrine, it came from hokura (神庫), literally meaning "kami repository". This means the first shrines may have been huts to house yorishiro. [note 1][2]

Notes

  1. ↑ Yorishiro are objects Kami are invited to live in such as trees or rocks.

Sources

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Shinto Portal - IJCC, Kokugakuin University". www2.kokugakuin.ac.jp. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  2. ↑ Tamura, Yoshiro (2000). "The Birth of the Japanese nation". Japanese Buddhism - A Cultural History (First ed.). Tokyo: Kosei Publishing Company. p. 232 pages. ISBN 4-333-01684-3.