At One Shinto Shrine, How Many Times Can We Make A Wish During A Visit?

There are many Japanese Shinto shrines worshiping various kinds of gods all over Japan. Also temples are often including some Shinto shrines since ancient Japanese had mixed it until modern government separated them by law in Meiji era as I mentioned in my previous post on the October 2nd. Most people enjoy visiting shrines/temples and making a wish whenever they get the chance. It would be more like customs than religion and some major shrines/temples have become very popular as tourist spots.

Then, how many times do people usually make a wish at one shrine? One wish for one shrine? Actually it depends on each shrine. Some shrine worship just one god or one set of gods and have one shrine building for prayers. For Example, Meiji Shrine in Tokyo is one of the most famous shrines, and it worships Meiji emperor and empress. In the case, most people make just one wish at the main shrine building. 

However, many shrines/temples actually worship more than one god separately, and generally they have one main shrine building and some small subordinate shrine buildings on the ground. The photos in the slideshow above are showing a typical example. It is Koyasu Shrine located in Hachioji City, Tokyo. 

Koyasu Shrine is a small scale local shrine although the history is quite long. Apparently this shrine was established about 1200 years ago and it is one of the oldest Shinto shrines in West Tokyo area. The shrine has seasonal events and festivals throughout the year, and is visited by many locals. The main god of the shrine is a god of safe births, marriage, and parenting and it is worshiped in the main building. 

On the right hand side of the main building, there is a pond and a small shrine named Itsukushima Shrine. It is worshiping Benzaiten god which is one of the "Shichifukujin (the seven good luck gods)". As I introduced in my previous post about Shichifukujin, it was originally a Hinduism goddess, but after imported it became a Shinto god of performances and music. 

Moreover, after going through a path beside the main building, another shrine is on the far end of the path. It is a Konpira shrine which is worshiping "Ookuninusi-no-mikoto", a god for good business, traffic safety and good luck. 

In front of the Konpira Shrine, there is a long wooden structure along the approach as you can see in the photo slide show.  To tell the truth, it is a joint shrine building and containing five micro shrines called "Massya (subordinate shrines)". They are for a god of legs and loins, a god of eyes, a god of business and fortune, an god of teeth, and a god of throat.

What's more, according to the leaflet of the Koyasu Shrine, there are 4 more subordinate shrines on the ground. Since they are all separated shrine buildings with own offertory boxes, people can make a wish at each one although they don't have to. Did you get the sum? It's 12 times at most!