Chōzuya

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Chōzu-ya at rural Make-jinja
A sign (read right-to-left) explains how to do chōzu
Inside a pavilion, performing chōzu

Chōzu-ya or temizu-ya (手水舎) is a Shinto water ablution pavilion for a ceremonial purification rite known as temizu or chōzu (手水; lit. 'hand-water'). The pavilion contains a large water-filled basin called a chōzubachi (手水鉢; lit. 'hand water basin').[1]

At shrines, these chōzubachi are used by a worshipper to wash their left hand, right hand, mouth and finally the handle of the water ladle to purify themselves before approaching the main Shinto shrine or shaden (社殿).[2] This symbolic purification is normal before worship and all manned shrines have this facility,[3] as well as many Buddhist temples[4] and some new religious houses of worship.[citation needed] The temizu-ya is usually an open area where clear water fills one or various stone basins.[citation needed] Dippers (hishaku (杓)) are usually available to worshippers. In the 1990s, water for temizu at shrines was sometimes from domestic wells, and sometimes from the municipal supply.[5]

Water has played a large role in Japanese sprituality since pre-historic times, most notably in the form of misogi done at a spring, stream or seashore an based in the legend of the purification of Izanagi,[2][6] and the similar buddhist practice of kori  [jp] among others.[6] Temizu delevoped as an abbriviation of Misogi,[4] altough misogi was considered the ideal at least in the 1960's,[3] and worshippers at the Inner Shrine at Ise still use this traditional way of ablution.[7][3]

The COVID-19 pandemic caused many shrines to remove the dippers and instructions to wash the mouth, with water flow to the chōzu basins often stopped and replaced with dipper-free dripping water systems or hand sanitizer in order to comply with public health norms and prevent infections.[2][8]

Starting at the Yōkoku-ji [ja] in 2017 hanachōzu (花手水, hanachōzu/hanatemizu) which is the practice of floating flowers in the chōzu basin has become popular across temples in Japan. The practice and became a social media phenomenon beginning in 2018 with many shrines, both Shinto and Buddhist, following suite hoping to combat declining visitor numbers. Hanachōzu received further attention in 2020 with it being a popularized as a solution to pandemic challenges in the media, such as a way to use chōzu basins during pandemic restrictions, an good use for unsold flowers from florists, and an alternative to hanami, with there being 200 to 300 temples that had hanachōzu in 2022.[9]

See also

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References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chōzuya.
  1. ^ Kazuo Nishi; Kazuo Hozumi; H. M. Horton (1996). What is Japanese architecture. Tokyo: Kodansha. p. 48. ISBN 9784770019929.
  2. ^ a b c Occhi, Debra (2022). "Handwashing as Ritual Practices: Japanese Religious Modifications and Popular Cultural Promotions". In Săpunaru Tămaș, Carmen; Tanaka, Kathryn (eds.). Epidemics and Ritual Practices in Japan (PDF). Pro Universitaria. pp. 91–101. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-02-29. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
  3. ^ a b c Sokyo Ono; W. P. Woodard (1962). Shinto: the Kami Way. pp. 34, 52.
  4. ^ a b Suga, Koji. "Why do temples and Shinto shrines have similar water fonts? Buddhist temples in Japan have water fonts similar to those seen at Shinto shrines". Kokugakuin University. Archived from the original on 2025-07-10. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
  5. ^ K Yokoi, R Nawata, S Furui, T Nagasawa, S Yanase, M Kimura, Y Itokawa (December 1991). 神社の手水の水質検査成績 [A Report on the Hygienic Status of Sacred "Temizu" Water in Shrines]. Nihon Eiseigaku Zasshi (in Japanese). 46 (5): 1009–13. doi:10.1265/jjh.46.1009. PMID 1779475.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ a b Săpunaru Tămaș, Carmen (2014). "The Ritual Significance of Purification Practices in Japan". Kwansei Gakuin University Humanities Review (19:2014). Kwansei Gakuin University: 1–19. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
  7. ^ Mori Mizue. "Temizuya". Kokugakuin University. Archived from the original on 2020-06-09. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
  8. ^ Ugoretz, Kaitlyn (2024-03-17). "Shrines at a distance: shinto ritual practice and technology during COVID-19" (PDF). 人間文化研究所年報 (19:2024). 名古屋市立大学人間文化研究所: 58–62. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
  9. ^ Kanayama, Tomoko; Kudo, Mari; Kobayashi, Reina (2022). "花手水が生みだす新たなコミュニティ─ アクターネットワーク理論から考察する異種混交的なネットワーク" [A New Community Created by HANACHOUZU ─ Hybrid Networks based on Actor-Network Theory] (pdf). 情報科学芸術大学院大学紀要 [Journal of Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences] (in Japanese) (13:2022): 68–73. Retrieved 2025-08-19.

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Further reading

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  • "chouzubachi" 手水鉢. Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System. Atsumi International Scholarship Foundation. Retrieved 15 August 2016., and links therein
  1. ^ Sokyo Ono; W. P. Woodard (1998). Shinto: the Kami Way. Rutland, VT: Tuttle. pp. 34, 52. ISBN 9780804819602.