Chinjusha

a typical Chinjusha seen on a temple complex

In Japan, a chinjusha (鎮守社•鎮社, or tutelary shrine) is a Shinto shrine which enshrines a tutelary kami (鎮守神, chinjugami); that is, a patron spirit that protects a given area, village, building or a Buddhist temple.[1][2][3] The Imperial Palace has its own tutelary shrine dedicated to the 21 guardian gods of Ise Shrine. Tutelary shrines are usually very small, but there is a range in size, and the great Hiyoshi Taisha for example is Enryaku-ji's tutelary shrine.[4] The tutelary shrine of a temple or the complex the two together form are sometimes called a temple-shrine (寺社, jisha).[5][6] If a tutelary shrine is called chinju-dō, it is the tutelary shrine of a Buddhist temple.[3] Even in that case, however, the shrine retains its distinctive architecture.

  1. ^ Iwanami Kōjien (広辞苑) Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference kentaro was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Parent, Mary Neighbour. "Chinjusha". Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System. Retrieved July 7, 2001.
  4. ^ Satō, Masato: "Sannō Shintō". Encyclopedia of Shinto, Kokugakuin University, retrieved on 2011-07-20
  5. ^ Tamura, Yoshiro (2000). Japanese Buddhism - A Cultural History (First ed.). Tokyo: Kosei Publishing Company. p. 86. ISBN 978-4-333-01684-6.
  6. ^ Bocking, Brian (1997). A Popular Dictionary of Shinto - 'Jisha'. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-7007-1051-5.