「Shrines」
Shrines are solemn and religious places of worship that are uniquely beautiful and popular. The Japanese believe that this is where the goshintai, the object of worship, is believed to be kept, which contains the spirit of the deity. Japanese people visit the Shinto shrines on special days and events, such as hatsumode (the first shrine visit of the New Year), omiyamairi (the baby's first visit to the shrine) and shichigosan (the celebration of children of the ages of 3, 5 and 7). Jinja (shrines, in Japanese) are situated in forested settings and these woods are called chinjyu no mori and there is a torii gateway at the jinja's entrance. The furthest building from the torii is the honden, the main shrine where the goshintai is placed. Before the main shrine, there is a haiden, or front shrine, where visitors can pay a visit. There is a bit of a unique procedure to making an offering to the deity. After ringing a bell, people make money offerings to the saisenbako/an offer box. They can pray after bowing twice, followed by two claps and then another bow towards the main shrine.