Goshuin

Yesterday I posted my impressions of the many Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines we visited in Japan in May of this year. Part of that post covered the goshuin, or temple seals, that you can purchase as a memento of your visit to each site. These purchases are not objects; rather they are individual works of art that the temple monks or calligraphists combine with a stamped image to commemorate your visit. 

As you add goshuin to your stamp book (or goshuin-cho), the book itself becomes a unique souvenir of your time in Japan. It is unlikely that your goshuin-cho is identical to any other. Even if you visited the same temples and shrines in exactly the same sequence on exactly the same days, the people creating the calligraphy noting the name of the temple or shrine and the date of your visit would have to be exactly the same to create two-of-a-kind goshuin-cho.

If I stand a chance of instilling my love of travel in anyone in a future generation, it is my niece, whose birthday is today. I am passing my goshuin-cho to her today in the hopes that she will both appreciate the 12 goshuin I collected this year and one day fill the book on a trip of her own to Japan. Just so we all know exactly which goshuin came from which site, I'm posting pictures of each one here and identifying its origin. Enjoy!

Note on the pictures below: the goshuin-cho is filled from right to left. Therefore I have listed the goshuin on the right of the picture first for each image. I get that it's confusing. I thought it was important to list the goshuin in the sequence received.

Komitake Shrine, Mount Fuji.

Hanazono Shrine, Shinjuku, Tokyo (right); Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto (left).

Gozendani Hohaijo (prayer area), Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto (right); Todaiji Temple, Nara (left).

Kasuga Shrine, Nara (right); Kohfukuji Temple, Nara (left).

Gangoji Temple, Nara (right); Kinkakuji Temple, Kyoto (left).

Daigoji Temple, Kyoto (right); Kiezu-no-Reikado Hall, Mount Misen, Miyajima (left).

Itsukushima Shrine, Miyajima.