How to Tell if you're at a Temple or a Shrine

[@Nekotamer]

if everything fails, be sure to ask your locals about if this is a shrine or a temple, if you look a little foreigner the answer will most of the time, come with a smile.

[@Malkav65]

While I was watching this, I was thinking about all the places of worship near where I live. You'd say one fact and I would go, "Okay, they're shrines. Perfect. Mystery solved." Then you would say another fact and I would think, "Oh... so they're... temples...?" I'm glad you clarified why it's not so cut and dried at the end. For the record, based on your helpful kanji lesson, they're temples! Now I can sleep at night.

[@patterbay]

oh my goodness I had been struggling with the differences between the vocab 寺and 神社 for WAY too long. thank you so much for clearing that up!

[@Filamentiferous]

Got to love the shrines and temples that like to mix it up with temple bells in pagodas with kitsune.

[@AngelValis]

I love Fushimi Inari Taisha. I can't say that I've been to a huge number of temples and shrines, but Fuishimi Inari is my favorite by far. I think I went there 3 or 4 times when I was studying at Kansai Gaidai.

[@chickensaltchips]

There is also the added difficulty of some shrines being within temple complexes, for example there is a shrine dedicated to Ookuninushi （大国主）(amongst others) that is inside the Kiyomizu Temple complex :)

[@ankh428]

I loved this video, very educational and straight forward. Great job!

[@Tobi-ci3ns]

Interesting! I actually had no idea there was a difference until now.

[@user-jz2nx6xt3t]

Very useful thanks

[@ohdaUtube]

very informative and practical! great video, thanks!!

[@bitneek]

Another way to tell if you are the shrine is the presence of "miko". Miko are young Japanese women who work at the shrine to perform various duties such as assisting with various types of ceremonies. They wear a white upper garment which is a type of kimono and long pleated crimson coloured skirt (hakama) over the kimono. Also the roof structure on a shrine or temple is often quite different. Traditional style Japanese shrines often have a roof cover with flat copper tiles and a curved shape whereas temples usually have the wavy ceramic tiles. Not always the case but if it's got the flat copper tiling it's dos likely a shrine. Meiji Shrine in Shibuya, Tokyo is a good example of that. But it can be confusing because many temple complexes also have shrines on the grounds. One example would be Shogakuji in Nakameguro, Tokyo. The main building is a temple but within the grounds there are a couple of little shrines with fox statues next to them.

[@furroy]

yea, I wish i saw this video before my trip in May!

[@essennagerry]

What a nice video. I just love you guys.

[@Tofugu]

♡

[@xierli8585]

Thank you 🧘‍♀️ ⅖¹⁰²^

[@fibisugar]

thanks for the video! I really liked it. I was wondering how you could tell the difference other than a Buddha statue

[@minkdevil]

wow such a helpful video! :D :D

[@nihonarekun]

Tenmangu in osaka near where I live looks just like a temple according to what u described so it really is hard to know, just gotta remember the name thing.

[@dominiquebini5762]

I have to admit I get a good laugh from ya'lls. Along with education! But the laugh is nice! :p thank you!

[@Filamentiferous]

Sure fire way to know the difference is the legend key in a map denoting the denomination!

[@TokyoPaul]

I’m watching tofugu

[@vesnastihovic7014]

Why does the cathedral has the name shrine in it?

[@ArlekinVergeltungswaffe]

+Tofugu Wow, thank you so much for this one. I never knew the first time I went to Japan. But, now I have this stupid fear to budist temples for reading/watching GantZ LOL

[@CutieRingoJoy]

So the one I saw in my country was a temple well I saw one at a Japanese cemetery park in Singapore and Singapore we have ppl who pray to Buddha too

[@kendraa_______9981]

Shintoism is such an interesting concept.. as well as Buddhism. Wish we had more of that in Western Countries.

[@beareggers]

Kendra Carlson Native European and American religions have many similarities to Shinto. But they were mostly wiped out by Christianity.

[@kendraa_______9981]

I'll believe that.

[@dominic9212]

Jizo dosen't only protect children but also saves people from hell. They call him ksitigrbha bodhisattva

[@jft-basicsmartonlineclass-2972]

BUDDHA WAS BORN IN NEPAL

[@vanmaren962]

Temple = red?

[@dumbbellenjoyer]

tl;dr Look for tiled roof = gj

[@esafzay]

or you can look into Google Maps.

[@qbek_san]

in Polish language, both Temple and Shrine, means Świątynia :(

[@doggybag71]

+Qbek Wow! Wtf happened to your alphabet?? xd Just kidding, looks it pretty cool! :D

[@TheChrisMiR]

I have the same problem.. in Danish temple is translated to tempel.. but shrine is too :S so what is a shrine, if it's not a temple??

[@bmys3304]

神社と寺が見分けがつかない理由に戦争が関係している。多くの外国人はその事を知らない。