Udo Shrine: Fuku-shimenawa and Purification 鵜戸神宮：福注連縄とお祓い

Official explanation

When entering a Shinto shrine, visitors purify themselves ritually before proceeding toward the main sanctuary. This is done to cleanse oneself of both physical and spiritual impurities before approaching the deities. At Udo Shrine, the purification is conducted in two stages. First, devotees pick up a fuku-shimenawa—a small rope tied around a stick—from the box on the right and move it across and around their body to cleanse the mind. After use, the fuku-shimenawa should be placed in the box on the left (please refrain from taking it as a souvenir). A donation of 100 yen is recommended at this point. Next, visitors continue on to the temizuya, a basin where ladles are provided for washing one’s hands and mouth to purify the body. After this, one is considered ready to cross the Shinkyo Bridge that leads into the most sacred part of the shrine.

出典: 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース（観光庁） — www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db. この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Multilingual Explanation Database. This English text was produced by the Japan Tourism Agency's multilingual explanation project and is shown unedited. Opening hours and services may have changed since it was written.