You have probably seen a temple and shrine seal book already, but you were not sure what exactly it is?
Trust me when I say you’re missing out on something GREAT!
What is a temple and shrine seal book?
I think most people outside of Japan don’t know about these temple and shrine seal books and I wish I knew about them earlier, too!
Whenever you visit a shrine or temple in Japan, apart from praying you can also buy lucky charms, omikuji or ema (wooden wishing plaques).
Furthermore you can receive special seal(s) of that temple / shrine. Each one has a unique seal! Some offer even more than just one seal design, so sometimes it’s hard to choose!
Where can you get the seal books?
The seal books are called“朱印帳” (shuinchou) in Japanese.
I certainly recommend this as a souvenir, especially for people who keep coming to Japan again and again and so can collect new seals every single time they visit.
There are many types of seal books. A lot of them are rather plain with no pattern or images on them.
The really big temples or shrines usually have nicer looking seal books.
They cost around 1000 yen and you’ll get your first seal in the temple / shrine you bought it for free.
Try to copy and paste [朱印帳] into Google’s Image search and you’ll see all the great designs!
While I originally posted this article in 2011, I have to admit that in recent years more and more facilities seem to offer these temple and shrine seal books. It’s much easier to get one nowadays (2018).
This is a photo of my second seal book. I bought it in Miyazaki’s Aoshima Srhine.
My first book that was pictured earlier was purchased at Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine in Yamanashi Prefecture.
Pictured above is my 3rd book which I obtained at Ikuta Shrine in Kobe!
To be honest, by now I’ve lost count, but I think I’m on my 6th book at the moment (status: March 2018).
Let me know if you’re interested in seeing my other book designs as well.
Of course, Japanese people do not keep those book as a souvenir. For them it has a religious background. I was told that many Japanese people take those books into their grave when they die. Others try to get the book full while doing one of the famous pilgrimages. Among the famous ones is the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage, but also the Kumano Kodo.
What about the actual seals?
Once you’ve gotten some seals it looks like in the photo above.
One seal per page. It’s a pricy souvenir as one seal usually costs 300 yen. As for what is actually written, it depends. On the side you always get the date (in the photo: December 30th 2010 = my first 2 seals ever). In the middle written in bigger letters is often the temple’s or shrine’s name (but not always).
I think it’s a very unique and special souvenir that not everybody has. The monks or priests who are about to write the seal into my book are always surprised to see how many temples and shrines I’ve already visited. (And when I tell them that it’s my 6th book, don’t even ask what’s going on! *g*)
Apart from receiving the seal, it’s also very calming and interesting to watch the monk or priest writing the seal with a big brush and black ink.
So, what do you think?
Isn’t this a great souvenir to get? Have you ever heard of them before or do you even have a seal book? .gif)
At first I thought you were referring to the ame onna in Mushishi. I sure hope it was a one-off thing! “It was beautiful until yesterday” is really something I can’t bear hearing. It’s really quite unfortunate since I too have very little room to maneuver. But at least you made it to the summit of Fujisan!
That’s actually a very good way to financially sustain these beautiful sites and preserve them for the next generation, I’m glad they don’t quite mind it.
Keep up the good work, and I hope you have clear skies for your future visits :D Also looking forward to your Tottori trip write-up, was hoping to get some pointers for there and the adjacent Mt Daisen.
Thanks, I hope your next trip will be rain-less, too. *g*
Yeah, I know. I wish there was a button to push and all my journeys would just magically appear on this blog. I’ve done way too many trips already and it will take ages to write about all of them, so I have no idea when I’ll be able to write about my Tottori trip, but I do recommend the sand dunes and castle ruins. :)
Great entry, I was looking for some infos about these. My only question is if it’s worth to buy the seal book in the first temple I’ll visit so that I’ll get “stamped” in all the temples I’ll visit, or it is better to buy it in some particular temples known to have very nice seal books?
Let me know what do you think, thanks!
Hey Sputnik,
I think it really depends on your taste. How important is the design of the book to you?
You know, you can get the seals even without a book. They’ll write it on a piece of paper and you can add it to the book later. Of course, it’s not as “cool” as having it written directly into your book, but it could be a solution.
I end up buying a new book whenever I see a design I REALLY like. I’m confident that I’ll get all the books full eventually.
A lot of the big and famous temples have quite nice designs, even the common tourist attractions. I just saw quite a few around Tokyo e.g. on Mt. Takao.
I intend to write a follow-up post as I tend to take photos of the designs I like the most, so hopefully that will help people to find a temple or shrine with the book they like the most.
Good luck and have lots of fun collecting seals! :D
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Now that I’ve seen your post.. i now know what is it about! i have seen many of them around, but i didn’t know what they are!!!!! argh! i thought the priests were writing charms for the people, so i left them alone!:( Meiji shrine, the one in Miyajima, the ones in Kyoto wtc… i missed them all.. does it mean i gotta re-do my trips :( oh man.. wish i read this earlier.
Haha, no worries. I missed a few hundred shrines and temples until I finally discovered the seals. ^^;
Glad you found out early on. Collecting them is a lot of fun and they really make a great and unique (spiritual) souvenir.
Hello Jasmine,
I have to say ARIGATO, a big big one, for this article. I was told by a collegue about the sealbook, but this article really got me informed.
I got mine at Senso-ji in Asakusa, in my second day in Japan and I managed to FINISH it by the end of my 34 days unforgettable travel in Japan. Actually I think I have one page or so empty, but to be sure I needed to buy a new one.
For information, Senso-ji have three types of Shuincho but while none particularly striking, after some days of heavy use, the motif grew on me and now I’m pretty happy I didn’t wait to buy a “better” one. I bought the second one at Kofuku-ji, but I kinda remember that also Kinkaku-ji has a really nice one available.
At the end I was so into it that I bought also a dedicated bag with a very nice motif (most of them are sold in the temples and shrines) to keep intact the Shuincho! :)))
All seals (goshuin?) costed me something, 90% of temples and shrine costed 300 while few others 500. I was pretty amused by the fact that even Shinkyo bridge in Nikko has its own seal.
I don’t know if I made the right choice, but in some minor temples/shrines there were available only pre-made seal on a paper sheet to attach on your sealbook: I decided to rely on this when I really liked the temple/shrine. Not the best look, but whatever…
As per your suggestion I carefully kept track of all the seals I got and wrote them down on a separate paper, so I know which one is from that particular temple. In some cases I saved the paper in which it is explained the full meaning of the seal.
So far I got 48 (some real gems between them!) and I loved Japan so much that I already booked the flight to celebrate New Year in Tokyo and then move around for few days, just to breath a little more of Japan: of course I’ll look to add some more seal to my collection!
Again, THANKS for this wonderful post!
Sputnik, I’m so happy to hear that you were able to finish your first book so quickly. ^___^
It was the right choice to buy a book right from the start!
I always buy new books if I really like the design because I’m quite confident that one day I’ll get all of them full with seals. :D
Yes, that’s absolutely right. In smaller temples / shrines or when there’s no priest / monk to write the seal, you’ll get a piece of paper where they have already prepared the seal for you. It doesn’t look as great as the one that’s directly written into your seal book, but it’s still worth buying if you really liked the temple / shrine or the specific design of the seal itself. ^___^
Your observations are very accurate. Most of the time you pay 300 yen for a seal. If you buy a seal book and then get their seal, they sometimes don’t charge you for the seal, only for the book. And in some rare cases you have to pay more than 300 yen. :)
Glad to hear you liked your time in Japan so much and even plan to come back! ^_____^
I am glad I had read all about these on your blog before I travelled to Japan last year! I bought my shrine book in Asakusa, I think it’s such a great way to remember all of the shrines and temples you have visited.
I’m very glad to hear that! ^__^
Hi,
I’m in Osaka Japan just now and got my first seal from Shittenoji temple. I’ve been to quite a few in the area and this was the only one which had the seal as far as I’m aware.
Taidoji in Nara has it too but I missed out as that’s where I found out about them but was too afraid to ask!
Doug a bit of research now, so interesting!
Glad to hear that. I hope you’ll get your first book full soon! ^_____^
Hi!
Thank you for this post, it was very interesting. Like your whole blog.
I would like to have my own seal book. But the problem is that my Japanese is almost not existent and I don’t know whether I will be able to communicate with monk.
Agata, thank you very much. ^__^
Don’t worry too much. I’m sure they’ll understand what you want. The books usually are lined up next to the lucky charms in a temple or shrine. You can just grab one and buy it and they’ll fill it out for you with your first seal. In the next temple / shrine just hand them the shrine book and they’ll do the rest. :)
Sometimes they’ll tell you it’ll take a while and you should visit the shrine / main hall first and come back later. Most seals cost 300 yen. After paying just thank them. That’s pretty much all there is to. ^__^
Thank you for your answer, it helps a lot :-)
I wish I knew earlier about the seal book, so I could collect them from my first time in Japan (now I am planning trip number 4)
Same here, but then again I would have 10+ books by now, I guess. ;P
I’ve totally lost overview by now, about 5 books and counting. ^^;
Greetings… thank you so much for this information about your wonderful Shuinchou books. I am travelling to Japan in May and I am very keen to seek these out. I have only heard about the books recently so I am very appreciative of your comments and stunning photos. Thank you. Annie
You’re very welcome. ^__^
I wish somebody would have told me in advance, but it’s never too late to start collecting seals. ^^
Hi,
I’m currently in Tokyo right now and I can’t wait to get a shrine book at senjo-ji in Asakusa tomorrow morning.
Hi,
I hope you could obtain one. :)
Hi! excellent article! very well done and you’re so knowledgable, which is why I have a question for you. This winter I traveled to Mount Koyasan and bought a Shuinchou book from one of the temples. I went to many temples there and got many stamps. Just yesterday I went to Zuisenji temple in kamakura to have my book signed and was turned away. I do not speak Japanese so didn’t understand why. The monk pointed to the cover of my book that I think has the name of the temple I bought it from and gave me the arms crossed “no” symbol. I would love to know why I was turned away so I don’t make the same mistake. Thank you very much :)
Hi Paul,
That is very weird. I have never had that happen to me. I have no idea why you were turned away.
Maybe your book was full? But you said he just had a look at the cover? Hm. Very weird.
Hi,
Probably it is to do with some sects of Buddhism. Maybe your book had a name of Buddhist temple (if bought in Koyasan, it should be Shingon Sect), and the Zuisenji which is in Rinzai sect did not like it. My book that I bought in Koyasan has a name of temple.
However, there are books with cover that has no temple name or shrine name. So maybe next time, you may want to buy these.
But, that is fairly rare case. Usually, if you open you book to show the exact page that you want your seal, they do not check the front cover.
I’m on my 5th book now. Some of them had temple / shrine names and pictures on them, some didn’t.
I never had an issue with either of them no matter where I went.
And when I say I’m on my 5th book you can probably imagine that I’ve been to a lot of places.
It still bothers me that I have no idea why they would have rejected him.
The only times I haven’t received a seal was when the priest wasn’t available. Usually they have extras on a sheet of paper that you can buy and glue to your book later, but in some cases they even don’t have that. Then, they would kindly apologize and eventually you have to leave without receiving a seal.
Maybe that’s what happened? …
Hello, thank you very much for this great post which gives an enthusiasm to many people traveling to Japan in discover new places with these stamp books. I have one question though: you mention “temples and shrines”, but they belong to different religions – Shinto and Buddhism. Is it proper to have stamps from places of different religions in one book? Could it be a reason why that person who commented on your post that he was turned away? What do you think? Thanx!
Japan isn’t strict about religion at all.
In fact, there are many cases where Buddhism and Shinto are being mixed and you can see this at some facilities where you have a temple with an incorporated shrine and the likes.
If you follow my travels, you’ll eventually come along many of these.
It’s totally fine to “mix” them and I doubt very much that this was the reason to be honest.
But I still wonder what it could have been instead. *shrugs*
Thanks for your response, my question was also for my personal purposes: I got my stamp book in most worshipped place in Japan – Ise Jingu, and it’s a Shinto shrine. And I was wondering if Monks in Buddhist temples will refuse to put stamps in it. I have only two stamps so far – from Naiku and Geku.
You’re welcome. :)
This shouldn’t be a problem at all!
Gotta catch ’em all, right? ;) Just kidding.
Hello, please forgive my lack of knowledge on the subject. Will they fill these out at both a Buddhist temple and Shinto shrine? I get very overwhelmed when I am touristing with the children. What do I look for to have ours completed?
Hello,
Yes, you can get them at both, shrines and temples.
You would go towards where they sell the lucky charms among other things and tell them you want to get a seal for your seal book.
They will then direct you to the right person. At least at bigger facilities that’s how it works.
At smaller shrines, you might have to look for whoever is available and then ask them.
Sometimes the priest is not available. They’ll then sell you a pre-signed seal on a sheet of paper instead which you can later paste into your book. :)
If it’s just a short trip to Japan, you might not be able to get your whole book full, I fear. :)