御手洗
Meanings
1
purification font at shrine entrance
A stone or wooden basin filled with water, used for ritual hand and mouth cleansing before approaching a Shinto shrine. Often called 手水舎 (ちょうずや) or simply 手水 (ちょうず).
Purify your hands and mouth at the font of purifying water at the shrine entrance.
Usage patterns
- 〈場所〉の御手洗で手を洗うto wash one's hands at the purification font (before entering a shrine)
I washed my hands at the shrine's purification font before praying.
- 御手洗で身を清めるto purify oneself at the font
It is customary to purify oneself at the font before worshipping.