I was reading why Japanese go shrines and maybe
just to share the information. I actually extracted some portion
from the web .
Shinto shrines are places of worship and the dwellings of
the kami, the Shinto "gods". Sacred objects of worship that
represent the kami are stored in the innermost chamber of the
shrine where they cannot be seen by anybody.
People visit shrines in order to pay respect to the kami or
to pray for good fortune. Shrines are also visited during special
events such as New Year, setsubun, shichigosan and other festivals.
New born babies are traditionally brought to a shrine a few days
after birth, and many couples hold their wedding ceremonies
there.
The following structures and objects can be typically found at a
shrine:
Torii
One or more torii gates mark the approach and entrance to a shrine.
They come in various colors and are made of various materials. Most
torii, however are made of wood, and many are painted orange and
black.
Komainu
Komainu are a pair of guardian dogs or lions, often found on each
side of a shrine's entrance. In the case of Inari Shrines, they are
foxes (see picture) rather than dogs.
Purification through
Found near the entrance, the water of these fountains is used for
purification. You are supposed to clean your hands and mouth before
approaching the main hall. Click here for more details.
Main and offering hall
Depending on the shrine's architecture style, the main hall
(honden) and offering hall (haiden) are two separate buildings or
combined into one building. The main hall's innermost chamber
contains the shrine's sacred object, while visitors make their
prayers and offerings at the offering hall. Click here for more
details.
Stage
Stages for bugaku dance or no theater performances can be found at
some shrines.
Ema
Shrine visitors write their wishes on these wooden plates and then
leave them at the shrine in the hope that their wishes come true.
Most people wish for good health, success in business, passing
entrance exams, love or wealth.
Omikuji
Omikuji are fortune telling paper slips found at many shrines and
temples. Randomly drawn, they contain predictions ranging from
daikichi ("great good luck") to daikyo ("great bad luck"). By tying
the piece of paper around a tree's branch, good fortune will come
true or bad fortune can be averted.
Shimenawa
A shimenawa is a straw rope with white zigzag paper strips (gohei).
It marks the boundary to something sacred and can be found on torii
gates, around sacred trees and stones, etc. A rope similar to the
shimenawa is also worn by yokozuna, the highest ranked sumo
wrestlers, during ritual ceremonies.
There can be a variety of additional buildings such as the priest's
house and office, a storehouse for mikoshi and other auxiliary
buildings. Cemeteries, on the other hand, are almost never found at
shrines, because death is considered a cause of impurity in Shinto,
and in Japan is dealt with mostly by Buddhism.
The architecture and features of Shinto shrines and Buddhist
temples have melted together over the centuries. There are several
construction styles, most of which show (Buddhist) influences from
the Asian mainland. Only a few of today's shrines are considered to
be built in a purely Japanese style. Among them are Shinto's most
important shrines, the Ise Shrines.
There are tens of thousands of shrines across Japan, some of which
can be categorized into a few major groups of shrines.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2059.html
No wonder Japanese keep going to Shrine.
