Category: Prayer & Worship

Hohei-shi are imperial envoys dispatched as the emperor's representatives to offer heihaku at shrines. Beginning with provisions in the Engishiki, the institution spans more than a thousand years, with reihei-shi sent to Ise Jingu, hohei-shi for the Kanname Festival, and the Kamo Festival imperial messenger forming a circuit of prayer linking the court and the shrines. We unravel the oldest form of prayer linking shrines and the state—why the emperor sends a representative rather than going himself, the robes and procedures of the hohei-shi, the history of interruption by warfare and revival in the Meiji era, and the system of chokusaisha shrines that still survives today.

Shrine Secrets Editorial Team

At Japanese shrines, worshippers are taught to silently state their name and address before praying. Discover the spiritual reasoning behind this unique practice and the proper way to pray.

Shrine Secrets Editorial Team

Discover the ancient Shinto practice of tachimono — abstaining from food, drink, or pleasures as a form of prayer. Learn why self-sacrifice was believed to strengthen divine connection.

Shrine Secrets Editorial Team