A miko , or shrine maiden, is a young priestess who works at a Shinto shrine. Miko were once likely seen as shamans, but are understood in modern Japanese culture to be an institutionalized role in daily life, trained to perform tasks, ranging from sacred cleansing to performing the sacred Kagura dance.
Modern miko in Meiji Shrine, Tokyo, in 2000
Miko perform Shinto ceremony near the Kamo River in 2006
Miko (c. 1895) in ceremonial costume, including torikabuto (tall phoenix hat), purple cording, tabard, long robe with train and large hand fan
Original lithograph book plate with caption
A Shinto shrine is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, the deities of the Shinto religion.
Two women praying in front of a shrine
Mount Nantai, worshiped at Futarasan Shrine, has the shape of the phallic stone rods found in pre-agricultural Jōmon sites.
An example of jingū-ji: Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū-ji in an old drawing. In the foreground the shrine-temple's Buddhist structures (not extant), among them a pagoda, a belltower and a niōmon. The shrine (extant) is above.
Mount Fuji is Japan's most famous shintai.