Tamagushi (玉串; literally "jewel skewer") is a form of Shinto offering made from a branch of the sakaki tree (Cleyera japonica) decorated with shide — strips of washi paper, silk, or cotton. At Japanese weddings, funerals, miyamairi (shrine visits for children), and other ceremonies at Shinto shrines, tamagushi are ritually presented to the kami (spirits or gods) by parishioners, shrine maidens (miko), or priests (kannushi).
Linguistic History
The Japanese word tamagushi is usually written with the kanji 玉 ("jade; gem; jewel; precious; ball; bead") and 串 ("string together; skewer; spit; stick"), or sometimes written 玉ぐし with hiragana. The earliest recorded transcription is 玉籤, using 籤 ("bamboo slip; divination lot") instead of 串.
The Nihon Shoki (c. 720 CE), the earliest extant chronicle of Japan, is the locus classicus for tamagushi. It records a legend in which the sun-goddess Amaterasu, angered by her brother Susano'o, hid in the "Rock-cave of Heaven." To lure her out, the gods decorated a giant sakaki tree with jewels, a mirror, and offerings — a scene considered the mythological origin of the tamagushi ritual.
Etymology
The etymology of tamagushi is uncertain. Despite consensus that -gushi (串) means "skewer" or "stick" (of sakaki), the original signification of tama- (玉) remains obscure. Several theories exist:
- Motoori Norinaga (1730–1801), a Kokugaku scholar, suggested an etymon of tamukegushi (手向け串, "hand-offered stick/skewer").
- Hirata Atsutane (1776–1843), a Shinto theologian, proposed "bejeweled stick/skewer," with tama referring to decorative jewels.
- Kunio Yanagita (1875–1962), a noted ethnologist, hypothesized "spiritual stick/skewer," with tama meaning tama (霊, "spirit; soul").
Usage and Collocations
Common tamagushi collocations include:
- tamagushi o sasageru (玉串を捧げる) — "offer a tamagushi"
- tamagushi hōnō (玉串奉納) — "dedicate/offer tamagushi in front of a shrine altar"
- tamagushi-ryō (玉串料) — "cash offerings for tamagushi presented at a shrine"
Tamagushi also has an uncommon secondary meaning as a name for the sakaki tree itself.
The Ehime Lawsuit
Tamagushi was central to the "Ehime-ken Yasukuni jinja tamagushi soshō" (Ehime Prefecture Yasukuni Shrine tamagushi lawsuit), a landmark case concerning the constitutional separation of state and religion in Japan. Although Article 20 of the Constitution of Japan prohibits the state establishment of religion and Article 89 forbids expenditure of public money for religious institutions, the Ehime Governor officially paid for tamagushi-ryō (tamagushi offerings) presented at several Shinto shrines. In 1982, residents sued. After lower court reversals, the Supreme Court of Japan ruled on April 2, 1997, that the tamagushi offerings were unconstitutional.
