About Inori no Mori and our policy

Respecting differences in faith

We do not treat kami and buddhas as the same beings, and we do not merge the customs of different schools and traditions into one. The order and grouping of pages do not rank any faith above another. For specific ways of worship, please refer to the guidance of the shrine, temple, or school you trust.

This prototype does not provide, or act on anyone’s behalf for, worship at shrines and temples, prayer rituals (gokitō), or memorial services.

Checked words, with their sources

Introductions are based on the official guidance of shrines, temples, and schools, and on materials from universities, museums, and similar bodies. They summarize roles, beliefs, myths, and founding legends, and state which shrine, temple, or tradition each source speaks for. We do not fill gaps in histories or benefits by guesswork, and we do not guarantee that wishes will be fulfilled or that anything will have an effect.

Mantras are shown as written in materials published by temples such as Shōhōin (Tobi Fudō). Where there is more than one, each is shown with its name, its subject, and its source. We do not reconstruct a mantra from a seed syllable when the sources do not give one. We respect differences between schools and traditions and do not tell anyone to recite a mantra or how many times to do so.

Sutras and norito are traditional texts whose wording and readings we have checked in the sources. We do not write new texts for individual kami or buddhas.

Images of kami and buddhas

The images of kami and buddhas on this site are new illustrations drawn with AI from written instructions, using historical paintings, statues of kami and buddhas, and explanations of myths and names as references. Faces, colors, and details of clothing include creative elements. They are not photographs or reproductions of actual sacred objects or Buddhist statues, they do not fix a single correct form, and they do not indicate approval or supervision by any shrine or temple. Landscapes of forests, gardens, shrines, and temples are also fictional AI illustrations.

Your choices about what you enter and share

There is no membership registration and no payment. The site does not use cookies, and it does not load external fonts or embedded content.

Messages sent through the Japanese feedback form are stored so that the operator can read them and improve the site. What is stored is the type of message, its text, the date and time it was received, the rough type of device (phone, tablet, or computer), and, only if the sender chooses, the screen they were viewing just before. Names, contact details, and IP addresses are not stored, and we do not reply. The data is stored in a Cloudflare, Inc. database (D1).

The public posting area “みんなの祈りと感謝” (prayers and thanks from everyone) stores a post only when the person posting agrees to its being saved and made public. Only posts that the operator has checked are made public. IP addresses, email addresses, and device identifiers are not stored with posts, and the poster can ask for deletion at any time through a dedicated link.

How we count use of the site

To learn which pages are read and which screens are hard to use, we count use of the site in two ways.

1. The site’s own counts. Events are sent to the site itself (/api/e) and stored as totals in a Cloudflare, Inc. database (D1). They include which page was opened, the type of device, where the visit came from (only the names of well-known entry points such as search engines and social media; anything else is counted as “other”), the hour in Japan time, and similar items. Only daily totals are stored. We do not store records of individual browsing, IP addresses, cookies, or numbers that identify a device. Nothing you type, such as words of prayer or search terms, is sent. If your browser has a “do not track” setting turned on (Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track), these counts are not sent.

2. Cloudflare Web Analytics. This is a visit count by Cloudflare, Inc., which hosts the site. When a page opens, Cloudflare’s measurement script sends Cloudflare the address of the page, the referring address, the type of browser and device, loading speed, and similar information. According to Cloudflare, it does not track individuals with cookies or device fingerprints. This is not stopped by “do not track” settings; to block it, you can block static.cloudflareinsights.com with a content blocker in your browser.

The online visit to a shrine or temple

The flow of the online visit follows one example of the customs introduced by Jinja Honchō (the Association of Shinto Shrines), Sensō-ji, and Shōryūzan Kongō-ji. Customs differ between shrines, temples, and schools, and the online visit does not replace worship or prayer rituals at a real shrine or temple. The offering of money in the online visit is only a gesture of feeling, and no money is handled. What you write as your wish is not published, sent, or stored.

The list of shrines and temples across Japan

The nationwide list was compiled and edited by this site by selecting shrines and temples, by the form of their names, from the religious corporations in the full data of the National Tax Agency’s Corporate Number Publication Site, and adding the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s “Ōaza and chōme level location reference information” and Wikidata (CC0). Some locations are matched with OpenStreetMap features (© OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License (ODbL) 1.0), so the list data is published under ODbL 1.0. Sources are shown for each entry. The information has not been checked by the shrines and temples themselves, and locations are approximate.

Descriptions quote the opening of Japanese Wikipedia articles with the article name and the date retrieved (CC BY-SA 4.0). For shrines in Tottori Prefecture, only facts (enshrined kami, annual festival date, and former shrine rank) are shown from the Tottori Prefecture Jinjachō website, in line with its site policy, with the source and a link.

As a matter of policy, new religious movements, Kyōha Shintō (sectarian Shinto), and groups founded in modern times are not listed.

A prototype, growing little by little

The religious appropriateness of the content has not been reviewed by experts from shrines, temples, or schools.