Your Banknote Is Sitting on the Shrine Grate
To say shrine coin offering in Japanese, say 賽銭 (saisen).
Your thousand-yen note is lying on the shrine box. The line behind you can read the number.
賽銭
saisen
shrine coin offering
In this video
- お賽銭は小銭でお願いします。 Osaisen wa kozeni de onegai shimasu. Please use coins for the offering.
- お賽銭は小銭でお願いします。 Osaisen wa kozeni de onegai shimasu. Please use coins for the offering.
Why this phrase
The box inside a shrine gate is labeled 賽銭. It is a coin offering, not a ticket and not a tip jar. Coins fall through the slats. A bill stays on top, where the next person can see what you put down. This is not how to bow, and not the fortune papers. One word: 賽銭.
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