Shuin, hallmarks of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines

Shuin are the hallmarks of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines in Japan, they are large stamps that are accompanied by some letters in ink that will be written by the monks of the temple, after giving them a small alms (about €3) or in some ways free.

Shuin example

another shuin

Shuin-cho (shuin notebook)

You can get it in one of the important temples in the souvenir shop (1000 to 2000 yen). is a blank notebook that we will have to fill with the different shuin we get in each temple, there is no problem in that the shuin-cho is another Buddhist or Shinto temple, do not put any snag when stamping the stamp and write some text in ink.
In this way the shuin-cho, will become a unique souvenir, since they do not repeat the same text and hardly anyone will visit the same temples.
Not all temples have shuin, but the biggest ones and many of the small ones. Sometimes if there is a large influx of people requesting the shuin, we have to leave the shuin-cho and pick it up later, so it is a good idea to do it as soon as you arrive at the temple and then make the visit. to pick it up at the end.

Shuin-cho

There are also tourist shuin, they are simple stamps that one puts in a notebook or paper and that we can find in tourist places, (Skytree, city hall towers, etc.) and also in all JR stations.
We should never place these tourist stamps in a shuin-cho of temples, since this would be a very serious lack of respect, although for us it may seem like a simple souvenir, for them it is an object that deserves a lot of respect.

touris shuin

more tourist shuin