An otera (お寺) is a Buddhist temple. Japan has about 77,000 of them, more than it has convenience stores. Temples are where people hold funerals, remember their ancestors and come to find some quiet. They are easy to confuse with Shinto shrines, but they belong to a different religion.
Temple or shrine?
The quickest clue is the name. Temple names end in -ji or -dera, as in Kinkaku-ji or Kiyomizu-dera. Shrine names end in -jinja, -gū or -taisha. A shrine has a torii gate. A temple has a sanmon, a roofed gate, often guarded by two fierce statues. Inside, the main hall, or hondō, usually holds a statue of the Buddha. There may also be a pagoda and a large bronze bell. You will often smell incense. Visitors wave the smoke over themselves for good health. At a shrine, people clap twice when they pray. At a temple, they join their hands quietly and do not clap.
A temple in everyday life
Most Japanese families belong to a local temple, often for generations. The temple keeps the family grave and holds memorial services. People sometimes say that the Japanese are "born Shinto and die Buddhist." Many births and weddings are marked at shrines, while funerals take place at temples. On New Year's Eve, temple bells ring 108 times, once for each worldly desire in Buddhist teaching. Many visitors now collect goshuin, red seals with brush calligraphy, in a special book. Some temples also let guests stay the night, eat the monks' food and join the morning prayers.
Words & idioms to take away
Idioms & proverbs to carry away
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御朱印 (goshuin): a temple's red seal and brushed inscription. You get it for a small fee as a record of your visit.
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宿坊 (shukubō): lodgings inside a temple. Guests eat the monks' vegetarian food, shōjin ryōri.