Shintai

Camphor sacred tree with shrine at the base at Kayashima Station

Shintai is a word used in Shinto to refer to an object that a kami resides in.

Examples include

A yorishiro is something which is invited to have a kami enter but does not yet have one in it.

Example

In recent times a 700 year old tree was going to be cut down for a rail line. The people protested because they believed a kami lived inside it. So the city built a train station around it.

References

  1. ↑ "Shintai | Shintō | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  2. ↑ "Japanese Train Station Protectively Built Around a 700-Year-Old Tree". 27 January 2017. Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.