Offerings - Saisen

This refers to coins offered as a token of gratitude for the fulfillment of prayers to the gods and Buddhas. Nowadays, it also refers to money offered to shrines and temples as an expression of prayer and reverence. Unlike offerings made to shrines and temples for regular Shinto and Buddhist ceremonies, this is a sacred offering made for personal occasional worship. In the past, instead of coins, offerings were made of washed rice wrapped in paper called ohineri, or scattered rice called sanmai, but as the monetary economy spread in the lives of ordinary people and as pilgrimages to shrines and temples in other places became more common after the Muromachi period, this was replaced by money. Originally, offerings had the meaning of heihaku (offerings) as well as the meaning of koryo (payments of fines) to cleanse individuals of their sins and impurities. In recent years, the number of foreign visitors leaving offerings has also increased, with around 800 different types of coins being offered at Meiji Shrine.

[Mure Hitoshi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

神仏への祈願が成就(じょうじゅ)したことの報賽（お礼）のしるしとして奉る銭貨をいう。いまは、社寺へ参拝して祈願崇敬の心の表れとして奉る金銭をもいう。社寺の恒例の神事・仏事に捧(ささ)げる供物(くもつ)とは異なり、個人的な随時の参拝を目的とした際の神供である。古くは銭貨ではなく紙に洗米(せんまい)を包んで献ずるオヒネリとか、米を散(ま)く散米(さんまい)の形から、庶民生活に貨幣経済が広まり、また室町時代以降に庶民の他の土地への社寺参詣(さんけい)の盛行に伴って、銭に移行した。本来は、供物としての幣帛(へいはく)の意味と、個人の罪穢(ざいえ)を祓(はら)い清める科料の意義も込められていた。また近年では、外国人による賽銭も増加し、明治神宮では約800種のコインが捧げられている。

［牟禮　仁］

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