Costumes

            Priests:

“When a priest performs his duties he wears a blue and white robe and a tall thin black hat. Sometimes he wears an elaborate silk robe. A typical large urban Shinto shrine has 430 ceremonies performed at it every year. During a yakubarai ceremony participants are given shimenawa , a straw rope decorated with strips of paper, to break a jinx. A traditional Shinto blessing for a new construction project features a white-robed priest waving evergreen branches in front of a table laden with dried fish, while the people assembled bow their heads” (http://factsanddetails.com/japan.php?itemid=590#07)

 

Men:

“We also see boys during festivals wearing what looks to be the same white and black robes. This is the case for many of the Shinto images we have archived from Japan. We also note, however, note men with their sons wearing Western suits participatng in a Shinto religious ceremony. We are not sure just what is involved here. A reader explains, "Eventually the participants all put on ceremonial robes and loin cloths. The scene here is a kind of pre-event early in the morning where everyone recognizes each other before dressing in robes and loin cloths (fundoshi) for the actual Shinto ceremony."” (http://histclo.com/country/jap/act/rel/shin/shin-clo.html).

            Women:

Many women in the Shinto religion are Miko’s, or priestesses. They will often times wear white tops with red pants to represent the purity of their body and souls. Miko’s MUST NOT be married and MUST BE a virgin in order to serve their religion properly.

~ SH