section_path: Practices/Home shrines
section_name: Home shrines
paragraph_text: Home shrines
  
  Having seen their popularity increase in the Meiji era, many Shinto practitioners also have a family shrine, or kamidana (" kami shelf"), in their home. These usually consist of shelves placed at an elevated position in the living room. Kamidana can also be found in workplaces, restaurants, shops, and ocean-going ships. Some public shrines sell entire kamidana.
  
  Along with the kamidana, many Japanese households also have butsudan, Buddhist altars enshrining the ancestors of the family; ancestral reverence remains an important aspect of Japanese religious tradition. In the rare instances where Japanese individuals are given a Shinto funeral rather than a Buddhist one, a tama-ya, mitama-ya, or sorei-sha shrine may be erected in the home in place of a butsudan. This will be typically placed below the kamidana and include symbols of the resident ancestral spirit, for instance a mirror or a scroll.
  
  Kamidana often enshrine the kami of a nearby public shrine as well as a tutelary kami associated with the house's occupants or their profession. They can be decorated with miniature torii and shimenawa and include amulets obtained from public shrines. They often contain a stand on which to place offerings; daily offerings of rice, salt, and water are placed there, with sake and other items also offered on special days. These domestic rituals often take place early in the morning, and prior to conducting them, practitioners often bathe, rinse their mouth, or wash their hands as a form of purification.
  
  Household Shinto can focus attention on the dōzoku-shin, kami who are perceived to be ancestral to the dōzoku or extended kinship group. A small shrine for the ancestors of a household are known as soreisha. Small village shrines containing the tutelary kami of an extended family are known as iwai-den. In addition to the jinja shrines and the household shrines, Shinto also features small wayside shrines known as hokora. Other open spaces used for the worship of kami are iwasaka, an area surrounded by sacred rocks.