mitarashi 御手洗

A place to one side of the approach to a Shinto shrine where visitors perform purification rites, including rinsing the mouth and washing the hands. Often a large rectangular basin or cistern is used to hold the water. A pipe supplies the water with a continual stream at one end. The pipe is sometimes concealed by a dragon's or snake's head.The mitarashi has a roof but the sides are open. Varying styles and degrees of elaborateness characterize this type of shelter. If a stream or river flows nearby, as at Ise Jingū 伊勢神宮, it is used as the place for purification and is called mitarashigawa 御手洗川 (a river for purification rites).