Kannabi

Sacred locations in Shinto

In Shinto, there is a concept known as Kannabi (神奈備), also referred to as kaminabi or kamunabi, which denotes a region that houses a kami or is itself a shintai (a repository in which a kami resides). These regions are typically forests or mountains,[2][3] and examples include Mount Miwa[1] and Nachi Falls.[3]

Mount Miwa a famous Kannabi for Omiwa Shrine.[1]

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Kannabi can have sacred trees called shinboku or rocks called Iwakura.[3] Kannabi may also have shimenawa, torii gates, and sandō which show the way to them.


Shrines that worship kannabi do not always have a honden or haiden like other shrines. Instead, they enshrine the natural kannabi as deities. One example is Ōmiwa Shrine.[1] Kanasana Jinja is another shrine where the mountain itself is the shintai.[4]


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  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Tamura, Yoshiro (2000). "The Birth of the Japanese Nation". Japanese Buddhism - A Cultural History. Tokyo: Kosei Publishing Company. pp. 21. ISBN 4-333-01684-3.
  2. https://archive.today/20230407173533/https://d-museum.kokugakuin.ac.jp/eos/detail/?id=9690
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 霊峰富士など。山岳信仰を参照
  4. "Glossary of Shinto Names and Terms: K". www2.kokugakuin.ac.jp. Retrieved 2023-04-06.