Shintai
In Shinto, , or when the honorific prefix go- is used, are physical objects worshipped at or near Shinto shrines as repositories in which spirits or kami reside. Shintai used in Shrine Shinto (Jinja Shinto) can be also called . In spite of what their name may suggest, shintai are not themselves part of kami, but rather just temporary repositories which make them accessible to human beings for worship. Shintai are also of necessity yorishiro, that is objects by their very nature capable of attracting kami. Description The most common shintai are man-made objects like mirrors, swords, jewels (for example comma-shaped stones called magatama), gohei (wands used during religious rites), and sculptures of kami called , but they can be also natural objects such as rocks (), mountains (), trees (), and waterfalls () Before the forcible separation of kami and Buddhas of 1868 (shinbutsu bunri) a shintai could even be the statue of a Buddhist deity. Famous shintai include the mirror (part of the Imperial Regalia of Japan), Mount Miwa, Mount Nantai, the Nachi Falls, and the Meoto Iwa rocks. Many mountains like Mount Miwa or the Three Mountains of Kumano (Kumano sanzan) are considered shintai and are therefore