thumb|A mikoshi of [[Hiyoshi-taisha]]

thumb|Mikoshi fighting on Nada-no-Kenka Matsuri at [[Himeji]]

thumb|This mikoshi enshrines [[Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Tōshō-gū in Nikkō.]]

A is a sacred religious palanquin (also translated as portable Shinto shrine). Shinto followers believe that it serves as the vehicle to transport a deity in Japan while moving between main shrine and temporary shrine during a festival or when moving to a new shrine. Often, the mikoshi resembles a miniature building, with pillars, walls, a roof, a veranda and a railing.

Often the Japanese honorific prefix is added, making .

History

The first recorded use of mikoshi was during the Nara period. Among the first recorded uses was when in the year 749, the deity Hachiman is said to have been carried from Kyushu to Nara to worship the newly-constructed Daibutsu at Tōdai-ji. As the head shrine of all Hachiman shrines in Japan, Usa Jingū in Ōita Prefecture, Kyushu is said to be the birthplace of mikoshi. The bearers do not sway the mikoshi.

  • In this "united" style, the mikoshi uses the full width of the road, moving from side to side and turning corners at full speed.

See also

  • Ark of Covenant, a similar portable shrine
  • Glossary of Shinto
  • Honden
  • Matsuri float

References

  • Sokyo Ono, William P. Woodward, Shinto – The Kami Way, Charles E. Tuttle Company, Tokyo 1992,
  • Basic Terms of Shinto, Kokugakuin University, Institute for Japanese Culture and Classics, Tokyo 1985
  • Mikoshi Photos of Shinto shrine (English version)
  • Mikoshi Festival
  • Shin'yo, in the Encyclopedia of Shinto by the Kokugakuin University