BUTSUDAN

in Japanese households, the Buddhist family altar; historically, it was maintained in addition to the Shinto kamidana (god shelf). The Buddhist altar generally contains memorial tablets for dead ancestors and, in accordance with sect affiliation, representations of various Buddhist divinities. Incense and candles are lit and flowers are offered by the devout at simple daily services and, periodically, the family ancestors are memorialized before the butsudan. The formal precedent for household altars was probably the establishment in AD 655 of a court chapel; an imperial order called for similar sanctuaries to be set up in every house. The butsudan did not become common, however, until the 17th century, when, as a part of a measure to eliminate Christianity, Buddhist priests were required by the government to inspect households for proper maintenance of the altar. In modern Japan the butsudan has survived or supplanted the Shinto kamidana in many homes, though the rituals connected with it have commonly become abbreviated.