chinjusha 鎮守社

Also read chinju no yashiro. It is sometimes called chinjudō 鎮守堂; dojidō 土地堂; gohōdō 護法堂; hakusandō 白山堂. A shrine which houses the god, chinju, who guards a shrine, village, temple, residence, and even the Imperial Palace which is protected by the twenty-one guardian gods at Ise Jingū 伊勢神宮. Chinju 鎮守 refers to tutelary gods themselves. However, when a shrine is called chinjudō, this usually refers to a shrine housing a Shinto deity which guards a temple. Such an arrangement arose from the blending of Shinto and Buddhism, shinbutsu shūgō 神仏習合, which actually began as early as the Nara period but became a concentrated endeavor during the 13th century. Whether the chinjusha is built within the temple precincts or outside in the vicinity, it retains the style of a shrine. It does not take on the appearance of a temple building. 

Examples: Kasuga Myōjin 春日明神 at Kōfukuji 興福寺 in Nara (Kamakura period); Enjōji Kasugadō and Hakusandō 圓成寺春日堂, 白山堂 in Nara; Chōhoji Chinjudō 長保寺鎮守堂 in Wakayama Prefecture (Kamakura period); and Onjōji Shinra Zenshindō 園城寺新羅善神堂 Shiga Prefecture (1347).