Shintai

Shintai is a word used in Shinto to refer to an object that a kami resides in.

Camphor sacred tree with shrine at the base at Kayashima Station

Examples include

• Shinboku
• Iwakura
• Kannabi

A yorishiro is something which is invited to have a kami enter but does not yet have one in it.

Example

In recent times a 700 year old tree was going to be cut down for a rail line. The people protested because they believed a kami lived inside it. So the city built a train station around it.