This is the front of the shrine. The light brown object inside the door at the bottom is a donation box. People usually give the god a small, 1, 5, and 10 yen being very frequent, gift. The ritual varies a little from shrine to shrine but almost always consists of pulling on the rope (which is connected to a bell) to make a sound to alert the god that you are there, giving a small gift, clapping your hand and a moment of silence (pray?). At the beginning of the process, at the end, and sometimes in the middle, too, you bow to show your respect.
Behind the door and at the back there will be an altar, usually inside a closed cabinet. The altar often contains a mirror but in the few that I have actually seen there have been a variety of objects.
I walked around to the side and took this picture which is looking out through the door. You can see the donation box on the bottom left.
At the side there was a door to get inside. If you look closely you can see that the lock is not securing the door. It is only attached to one side. What is keep the door shut is a piece of plastic string that is tying the handles together.
On the other side there was a stele with a bas-relief carving of a human figure. I have no idea who it represents.
This is a close up of the row of bottles and cans that can be seen in front of the door in the first picture. The two cans are beer, the bottles are Japanese sake, and the box is fruit juice. Alcohol is very closely associated with the gods and is present in abundance at festivals. When I first came to Japan, these gifts were left unopened, but as economic conditions worsened and the number of homeless grew, some people started taking the gifts and drinking them. So the practice gradually changed and now most drinks or food is opened before it is left for the gods.
Under the trees I found this stele. The two kanji at the top mean mountain god. There were some smaller characters at the bottom but they were too worn for me to read.
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