Ofuda

Jingū Taima were originally purification wands (祓串, haraegushi) that wandering preachers associated with the shrines of Ise (御師, oshi or onshi)[clarification needed] handed out to devotees across the country as a sign and guarantee that prayers were conducted on their behalf.

[14][15][16][17] In 1871, an imperial decree abolished the oshi and allotted the production and distribution of the amulets, now renamed Jingū Taima, to the shrine's administrative offices.

[15] It was around this time that the talisman's most widely known form – a wooden tablet containing a sliver of cedar wood known as gyoshin (御真, "sacred core")[14][18] wrapped in paper on which is printed the shrine's name (Tenshō Kōtai Jingū (天照皇大神宮)) and stamped with the seals of the shrine (Kōtai Jingū Gyoji (皇大神宮御璽)) and its high priest (Daijingūji no In (大神宮司之印)) – developed.

As these items are sacred, they are technically not 'bought' but rather 'received' (授かる, sazukaru) or ukeru (受ける), with the money paid in exchange for them being considered to be a donation or offering (初穂料, hatsuhoryō, literally 'first fruit fee').

[20][21] One may also receive a wooden talisman called a kitōfuda (祈祷札) after having formal prayers or rituals (kitō (祈祷)) performed on one's behalf in these places of worship.

Shinsatsu such as Jingū Taima are enshrined in a household altar (kamidana) or a special stand (ofudatate); in the absence of one, they may be placed upright in a clean and tidy space above eye level or attached to a wall.

Shinsatsu and the kamidana that house them are set up facing east (where the sun rises), south (the principal direction of sunshine), or southeast.

In toilets, a talisman of the Buddhist wrathful deity Ucchuṣma (Ususama Myōō), who is believed to purify the unclean, may be installed.

[35] Protective gofu such as Tsuno Daishi (角大師, 'Horned Great Master'), a depiction of the Tendai monk Ryōgen in the form of a yaksha or an oni[36][37] are placed on doorways or entrances.