butsudan

butsudan, in Japanese households, the Buddhist family altar; historically, it was maintained in addition to the 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 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 kamidana in many homes, though the rituals connected with it have commonly become abbreviated.