Describe how you visit, and any pilgrimage route you plan to walk.
You get a recommendation on separating your books, with the reasoning.
Describe how you visit
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Why you find both answers, equally confidently given
There is no official ruling here. Neither the association of Shinto shrines nor the Buddhist schools has issued a common position, and practice differs from one place to the next. That is why a search returns flat contradictions in roughly equal numbers.
Narrowed down, three things actually decide it.
- The chance of being turned down: a small number of temples will not write into a book that already carries entries from other places. It is not common, and it is not zero
- Whether you are walking a route: the Shikoku eighty-eight and similar circuits assume a nokyocho, a different book entirely. That is not a question of separating, it is a different vessel
- Whether you will enjoy looking back at it: separating is tidier, and it means carrying two books, and forgetting one twice as often
Put the other way round: "it would be rude not to separate" rests on very little. Given how long kami and buddhas were venerated together in Japan, shrine and temple entries sitting in one book is not an anomaly.
The Nichiren-shu exception
This one case really is different. Nichiren-shu temples inscribe not a goshuin but a goshuimon, the daimoku Namu-myoho-renge-kyo, and the proper vessel for it is a dedicated goshuimoncho.
Hand over a book that already holds entries from shrines or other schools and some temples will write the two characters "myoho" instead, or decline to write at all. That is not a rebuff; it follows from how the school understands the inscription.
If Nichiren-shu temples are on your route, keeping that book separate from the start is the reliable course. The differences between the books themselves are set out in nokyocho and goshuimoncho.
If you decide to separate part-way through
A book that already mixes shrines and temples does not need undoing. Finish it, and separate from the next one. Tearing out or re-pasting pages does more damage to the book than the mixture ever did.
When to start a second book, and how to judge how many pages you have left, are covered in when the book is full.
Read next
Practice around goshuin and the books that hold them differs between shrines, temples and Buddhist schools. What follows is general orientation, not a rule. Notices posted on site and the guidance of the office there always take precedence. Nichiren-shu temples inscribe a goshuimon, and some will not write it into a book that already holds entries from elsewhere.
Frequently asked questions
Should I keep separate books for shrines and temples?
There is no rule requiring it. Neither the association of Shinto shrines nor the Buddhist schools has issued a common position, and entries sitting side by side is not in itself a discourtesy. The practical gain from separating is avoiding the small chance that a temple will not write into a mixed book.
A temple declined my mixed book. Was I being rude?
No. It follows from how that temple understands the inscription. In most cases a pre-written sheet is offered instead, and receiving that is perfectly fine. Bringing a separate book to that temple next time settles it.
What is different at Nichiren-shu temples?
You receive not a goshuin but a goshuimon, the daimoku Namu-myoho-renge-kyo. The proper vessel is a dedicated goshuimoncho, and with a book holding entries from elsewhere some temples write only the two characters \u201cmyoho\u201d, or decline to write.
Can I use a goshuin book for the Shikoku 88?
A nokyocho is the usual choice. Its pages are laid out in the order of the temples and its form marks the completion of a sutra offering. Some temples will use a goshuin book, but for walking the full circuit the nokyocho is the practical vessel.
If I decide to separate part-way, what happens to my current book?
Use it to the end. Removing or re-pasting pages does real damage to the binding. Separate from the next book and the collection tidies itself.