Shintô shrine / Schrein

神社 jinja  宮 gû, miya  神宮 jingû  大社 taisha  社 yashiro

A shrine is the place where the gods (kami) of Japan´s indigenous religion, Shintô, are worshipped. On the site of the Shintô shrine, which is surrounded by a fence marking the holy area, there are various side halls next to the main shrine (honden), where the priests celebrate their rituals, offer sacrifices to the faithful and invoke the Shintô deities. The “Great Shrine of Ise” is at the top of the hierarchy of shrines. In Ise shrine the sun goddess Amaterasu, the mythical ancestor of the tennô (“emperor”), is worshipped.