How to visit a shrine

Nobody will correct you, and nothing terrible happens if you get it wrong. But the sequence below is what people around you are doing, and it takes about ninety seconds to learn.

1. At the gate

The torii marks where the ordinary world ends. Stop, and bow once — a shallow bow, from the waist. Do the same on the way out, turning back to face the shrine.

Then walk up the approach path slightly to one side. The centre line is left for the deity. You will notice people drifting left or right without thinking about it.

2. At the water basin

The temizuya (手水舎) is a stone basin with ladles, near the entrance. Washing here is the one step worth doing properly. Fill the ladle once — the whole sequence uses that single scoop.

Take the ladle in your right hand, and pour over your left hand.
Swap hands. Pour over your right hand.
Back to the right hand. Pour a little water into your cupped left hand, and rinse your mouth from it — quietly, spitting beside the basin, not into it. Do not put the ladle to your lips.
Rinse your left hand once more.
Tip the ladle upright so the last of the water runs down the handle, and return it face down.

Some basins have been left dry or fitted with running spouts. Follow whatever is set up.

3. At the offering hall

The haiden is the hall you stand in front of. The standard sequence:

Drop a coin in the offering box. A five-yen coin is traditional — 五円 sounds like ご縁, “a connection”. Any coin is fine.
If there is a thick rope with a bell, ring it.
Bow deeply, twice.
Clap twice, hands at chest height, right hand slightly lower than the left.
Hold your hands together. This is the moment to say what you came to say.
Bow deeply once more.

In Japanese this is ni-rei ni-hakushu ichi-rei (二礼二拍手一礼) — two bows, two claps, one bow.

3 shrines on this site clap four times

Yahiko Jinja, Izumo Taisha and Usa Jingu use two bows, four claps, one bow. Each of them says so on its own website. Watch what the person ahead of you does, or look for a sign — larger shrines usually post the sequence.

Suwa Taisha is not one of them. It is often said to use four claps; its own site asks for the usual two.

What else is worth knowing

Photography: Usually fine in the grounds, usually not inside the halls, and never of a ceremony in progress unless invited. Signs with a crossed-out camera mean what they say.
Timing: The grounds of most shrines are open at any hour. The office that sells charms and writes seals normally works about 9:00–16:00 or 17:00. At a remote ichinomiya, arriving late means finding nobody there — so check before you set out.
Dress: No rule. Ordinary clothes are fine. Shoes come off only if you are invited inside a hall.
Behaviour: Quiet voices. No eating or drinking on the approach path. These are working places of worship, not monuments.
Being unsure: Standing still and bowing once is understood everywhere and is never wrong.

Next: what time shrines close · the shrine seal · getting there by car

Page last updated: 2026-10-30