Whenever I go to a temple or shrine, I have a Goshuin written for me, this Goshuin (a letter bearing the shogun's scarlet seal) is proof that I have been to that place.
It bears a scarlet stamp over which the name of the temple or shrine is written with a brush and ink, and then the date of the visit is also written on it.
Nowadays you can receive a Goshuin by just visiting the temple or shrine, but in the olden days, only those people who had copied out a Buddhist Sutra and brought it to the temple or shrine could receive the stamp as proof of their offering .
A Goshuin is different from an ordinary memorial stamp because it written in a Goshuin Cho, which is a little special folding notebookthat I especially treasure.
The scarlet stamps coupled with the beautiful brush strokes are very attractive. The way in which the characters are written and the stamps vary from place to place, so this is one of the things I look forward to seeing when get one written out for me.
Things to note :- *The price of the stamp is said to be based on “your own feeling” . But the common payment is from 300 to 500 yen for one. * Not every temple or shrine has the Goshuin service available.