Chapter I
What it means
The mirror reflects without distortion, and so it stands for truth, honesty and a pure heart. It is also linked with the sun, from whose light it shines.
In many shrines a round metal mirror is the shintai The sacred object in which a kami is present at a shrine, usually hidden from view. Glossary, the object in which the kami The gods or sacred powers of Shinto, present in nature, ancestors and great people. Glossary is present. Placed in the inner hall, it reminds worshippers to look into their own hearts and to be as clear as the mirror.
Chapter II
Where it comes from
In the myth of the cave, the gods hung a mirror on a tree to lure Amaterasu out; seeing her own radiance, she came out and light returned to the world. Japan’s chronicles say she later gave this mirror to her grandson as he descended to rule the land, telling him to look on it as on herself.
Bronze mirrors, many made in China or copied from Chinese models, have been found in large numbers in Japanese tombs of the 3rd to 6th centuries.
Chapter III
Where you see it today
The mirror is said to be kept at the Inner Shrine of Ise, the holiest site of Shinto. Mirrors stand on the altars of many shrines, and replicas are used in the household shrines, kamidana, of some homes.