The great majority of Japanese people will tell you bluntly the they have no faith in God or Buddha or any of the 16 million (and counting) Shinto gods.  But put each person in a a Shinto temple, and he or she will likely throw some coins at the altar and say some prayers.  It's surprisingly natural.  It's the power of ritual and an indication that Japanese people, despite their admitted lack of personal faith, long for connection with something bigger than themselves.

Temple of the Mountain God

This is just the very beginning of a huge temple complex.  Worshippers and sight-seers climb the stairs one after another.  As they make their way up the mountain, they stop to pray and donate money at many stations along the way.

Family Handwashing

A family prepares together to climb the stairs of the temple grounds.  The parents help their children to prepare with a ceremonial hand washing.  These children were probably dedicated in a temple soon after they were born.  When they die, they will most likely have a Buddhist burial.  These simple rituals bind people together in various social and spiritual ways,  though belief may be lacking. 

Drinking from the Fountain

Further up the temple mountain a young girl pauses at a ritual fountain.  Most people take some water in their mouth and spit it out (as a cleansing act).  But she drinks deeply.  It's obviously a significant moment for her, and a sign that she senses a need for some kind of greater connection.

Nature Break

Temples and shrines are usually beautiful, with incredible gardens and landscapes.  They function in some ways like miniature national parks in Japan, preserving the few remaining places of undisturbed, natural beauty and quiet refuge around the urban centers.  Even Japanese Christians venture occasionally to temples and shrines for a quiet escape.

Worship and Prayer at the Altar

A couple pray at the door of a temple shrine.  Afterwards, they pull the thick rope in front of them, which rings a huge gong.  Very few people enter the doors (in front of them), but as I watched a family went inside.  There was a chorus of loud and fast drumbeats from within to accent their prayers.  Worship at the temple involves sight (nature, buildings and idols), smell (incense), feeling (the water, the rope, and the drumstick), taste (the water), sounds (bells, drums and the gong), giving money (offering boxes at every building and idol), and movement (bowing heads, and climbing lots of stairs).  In a culture that professes no faith in God or religion, most Japanese become believers -- if just for a day -- when they visit a temple or shrine.  One man said to me that he prays at temples, even though he doesn't have any personal belief or faith in religion.  As he explained, "I believe, but I don't believe 'in'..." 

Inner Alter

This is small shrine inside a small building.  There are many, many such sidetracks that visitors may follow.  I paused to watch a young couple pass through here, burn some incense, and pray.  The large rope is attached to a bell in the roof.

Good Fortune?

A woman pauses with concern to read the Omikuji (fortune) that she just purchased.  Omikuji papers are drawn from a box, like a lottery.  The Chinese characters indicate either good or bad luck, or something in between.  A temple shop just off to the right does a brisk business in fortunes, good luck charms, and "prayers."   You can buy a slip of paper (or sometimes a piece of wood) and write a prayer on it.  These  are tied and hung on a stand.  Around exam times, students flock to temples and shrines to buy and post prayers asking for high marks.

Writing Their Prayers

These are prayer boards hanging at Kamakura.  Most of these were posted by students.  Around exam times, students flock to temples and shrines to buy and post prayers asking for high marks.

School girls with Pigeons

The pigeons are very friendly at Kamakura.  One of these school girls has one right on the top of her head.  In the background, you can see a rack full of neatly folded prayers on slips of white paper.

Posing with the Pigeon

My wife, Hitomi, poses with a white pigeon at Kamakura.  The chipmunks, by the way, are equally friendly.

Gift and Receipt

This picture was taken on another occasion at Kamakura, in front of the giant statue of Buddha that sits there.  Buddhism and Shinto-ism are two different religions, just to be clear, but they are not mutually exclusive of each other.  Worshippers follow the same basic procedure.  They pray and toss some money into the box (or vice versa).  Here a mother helps her child deposit money while a temple worker removes offerings from a drawer on the other side.

Tree Pots

On the same day that I took the picture above, I shot these ornamental pots hanging in a blossoming plumb tree.