to purify the nation, as well as after a disaster occurs. The practice is also performed at the year-end festival and also before major national festivals. , a cleansing ritual performed by sprinkling salt, is another practice of the Shinto religion. Salt is used as a purifier by placing small piles in front of restaurants, known as or , for the two-fold purposes of warding off evil and attracting patrons. In addition, sprinkling salt over a person after attending a funeral is also practiced commonly in the Shinto religion. Another example of this cleansing ritual is to sprinkle water at the gate of one's home, both in the morning and evening. A significant and visible form of this ritual is when sumo wrestlers sprinkle salt around the fighting ring before a match, to purify the area. See also Consecration Glossary of Shinto for an explanation of terms concerning Japanese Shinto, Shinto art, and Shinto shrine architecture. References BBC. (n.d.). Harae - purification rites. BBC - Homepage. Retrieved May 15, 2011, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/shinto/ritesrituals/harae.shtml Basic terms of shinto. (n.d.). Kokugakuin University. Retrieved May 16, 2011, from www2.kokugakuin.ac.jp/ijcc/wp/bts/index.html Ben-Ari, E. (1991). Transformation in ritual, transformation of ritual: audiences and rites in a Japanese commuter village. Ethnology, 30(2), 135-147. Retrieved May 15, 2011, from the JSTOR database. Boyd, J. W., & Williams, R. G. (2005). Japanese Shintō: an interpretation of a priestly perspective. Philosophy East and West, 55(1), 33-63. Retrieved May 14, 2011, from the JSTOR database. Chamberlain, B. H. (1893). Some minor Japanese religious practices. The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 22, 355-370. Retrieved May 16, 2011, from the JSTOR database. Miller, A. L. (1984). Ame no miso-ori me" (the heavenly weaving maiden): the cosmic weaver in early shinto myth and ritual. History of Religions, 24(1), 27-48. Retrieved May 14, 2011, from the JSTOR database. Norbeck, E. (1952). Pollution and taboo in contemporary Japan. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, 8(3), 269-285. Retrieved May 15, 2011, from the JSTOR database. Shinto no Iroha (神道のいろは）, Jinjashinpōsha (神社新報社), 2004, () Mihashi, Ken (三橋健), Wa ga ya no Shūkyō: Shinto (わが家の宗教：神道), Daihōrinkaku (大法輪閣), 2003 () Exorcism in Shinto Ritual purification Shinto