Bunrei

{{short description|Division of Shinto kami spirit}} {{Nihongo|'''Bunrei''' or '''wakemitama'''|分霊}} is a Shinto technical term that indicates both the process of dividing a Shinto ''kami'' to be re-enshrined somewhere else (such as a house's ''kamidana''), and the spirit itself produced by the division.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Smyers |first1=Karen Ann |title=The Fox and the Jewel: Shared and Private Meanings in Contemporary Japanese Inari Worship |date=1999 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |location=Honolulu |isbn=9780824820589}}</ref> Shrines conduct ''bunrei'' to distribute them to "child" shrines elsewhere.<ref>{{cite web |title=「分霊」の意味や使い方わかりやすく解説 Weblio辞書 |url=https://www.weblio.jp/content/%E5%88%86%E9%9C%8A |website=www.weblio.jp|lang=ja}}</ref> The spirit of ''kami'' does not decrease through this act, and a ''bunrei'' functions the same way as the original spirit.<ref>{{cite web |title=これで納得！同じ名前の神社がたくさんある理由～同じ名前の神様がたくさんいるの？～ – 早稲田神社 |url=https://wasedajinja.jp/2018/02/10/post-379/ |website=wasedajinja.jp|lang=ja}}</ref> The reason for conducting ''bunrei'' is often to make a ''kami'' more accessible to worshipers far from the main shrine.

{{Crossreference|For details, see the article about the similar term Kanjō.}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Traditional rituals of East Asia Category:Shinto terminology