Encyclopedia of Shinto

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カテゴリー1： 4. Jinja (Shrines)
カテゴリー2： Offerings and Talismans
Title
Sangu, Sanmai
Text
Also called uchimaki. Rice offered or scattered before the kami on the occasion of worship or purification (harae), or the ritual of offering rice in this way. According to one theory, the two terms sangu and sanmai have roughly the same meaning, while another holds that sanmai should be considered one type of sangu. In the latter view, sanmai refers to scattering rice, while sangu can refer not only to rice, but also to instances using sake, beans, and other items. It is thought that the use of rice in purification stems from a belief in the magical powers of grain. Although the terms sanmai and sangu involve "scattering," offerings are not always scattered. Alternately, they may be heaped up in a container and presented as ordinary offerings (shinsen). An offering placed before the kami may also be called ohineri, and some believe it represented the original form of saisen. Specifically, worshippers would wrap rice in pieces of paper and toss them into or set them on the offering box. In later times, metal coins were substituted for rice. Offerings of currency are the norm today. See also saisen.
— Inoue Nobutaka

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

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