Also ushōjō 有声杖, chijō 智杖, and tokujō 徳杖. Sk: khakkhara. A pilgrim's staff or sistrum. In Japan, the shakujō usually consists of a wooden handle or pole topped with a metal finial with two sections, each with three rings. In India, the shakujō's metal rings were originally used by traveling priests to alert small creatures to keep them from accidentally being harmed by a priest when walking in the woods. It was also used to frighten away dangerous snakes or beasts that the priest might have encountered. The shakujō could also serve as a cane to help the priest walk. When begging, he rattled this staff to announce his arrival at the door or gate of a household without breaking the vow of silence. In Japan the shakujō is still used by monks, pilgrims, and practitioners of shugendō 修験道, a school of Buddhism which teaches ascetic practices in the mountains (see *En no gyōja 役行者). A yamabushi 山伏 or mountain priest may use it for magic or exorcism.
In the Shingon 真言 and Tendai 天台 sects, the shakujō is used as a ritual object in special ceremonies. Some have short handles and are held when chanting. Documents state that thirty-two priests rattled shakujō to accompany the chanting at rites celebrating the inauguration in 755 of the Kaidan'in 戎壇院 (Ordination Pavilion) at Tōdaiji 東大寺 in Nara. There are two shakujō from the 8th century kept in the *Shōsōin 正倉院. One of them has an abstracted pagoda in the center with plant forms on each side. Zentsūji 善通寺 in Kagawa Prefecture owns a remarkable Chinese shakujō from the 8th century. The elaborate design has an Amida triad *Amida sanzon 阿弥陀三尊 in the center flanked by two attendants (two of the *shitennō 四天王 or Four Guardian Kings) on each side. One side has a standing Amida and the other has a seated Amida. The guardians are back to back and in this way all four of the shitennō are represented. There is a large flaming jewel *hōju 宝珠 at the top of the finial.
From the Heian period survive one bronze shakujō finial and one long iron shakujō from Rinnōji 輪王寺 in Tochigi Prefecture and Tesshūji 鉄舟寺 in Shizuoka Prefecture. There are various shakujō from the Kamakura period at Tōji 東寺 in Kyoto, Hasedera 長谷寺 in Nara, Sefukuji 施福寺 in Osaka, and at the MOA Art Museum in Shizuoka Prefecture. The shakujō is used as a *jimotsu 持物 (hand-held attribute) for, for example, *Jizō 地蔵, a deity dressed as a priest. Jizō is most commonly represented with a hōju in the left hand and a shakujō in the right after the Heian period. Although missing now, it is obvious from the hand position that the early Heian sculpture of Jizō from Seisuiji 清水寺 in Matsushiro 松代, Nagano Prefecture, originally held a shakujō.
Both *Fukūkenjaku Kannon 不空羂索観音 (the rope-snaring Kannon), and *Senju Kannon 千手観音 (Thousand-armed Kannon), usually hold a shakujō in one of the right hands. It symbolizes compassion when an attribute of *Kannon 観音. The 8th-century sculptures of Fukūkenjaku Kannon housed in the Sangatsudō 三月堂 (also known as *Hokkedō 法華堂) at Tōdaiji 東大寺 and the sculptures of Senju Kannon from Tōshōdaiji 唐招提寺, both in Nara, held shakujō. Although unusual, according to the iconographic manual entitled *Kakuzenshō 覚禅鈔 by priest Kakuzen 覚禅 (1176-1213), *Yakushi 薬師 may be depicted with a bowl *hachi 鉢 in the right hand and a shakujō in the left, instead of holding the customary *yakuko 薬壷 (medicine jar). There is a 10th-century painting of a seated Yakushi with a shakujō in Cave 17 at Dunhuang (Jp: Tonkō 敦煌).