What's the difference between a shrine and a temple? PAGODAs is the English for a tiered structure.

This is a good question that many Japanese may struggle to answer. Although there are some differences like the smoking barrel at temples and the purifying water at shrines, they could look pretty similar and even be built within the same area (literally next to each other). The quick and easy answer to this question is a simple one: a temple is a place for Buddhist worship, and a shrine is a place for Shinto (Japanese indigenous religion) worship. So really, the question is synonymous to asking the difference between a church and a mosque. But at second glance, the simple answer is not so simple, with some historical complications that explain the ambiguities of the differences. Shinto is a religion of nature worship, and originally, people prayed towards great natural phenomena such as mountains. As Buddhism made its way to Japan in the 6th century, it was not met without resistance and in need of an effective marketing strategy. In order to appease the nationalist resistance to a foreign "god" and to help spread Buddhism throughout the country, Buddhism was essentially "superimposed" onto Shinto by basically saying "You know, actually, the Shinto gods are Buddhas that are taking another form." This Shinto-Buddhism hybrid world continues until the Meiji period when the government demands the separation of Shinto and Buddhism in order to restore the legitimacy and power of the emperor, who is regarded as the supreme being in Shinto. Still, hints of a hybrid history still remain, as you may see some Shinto objects in Buddhist temples or vise versa, and that many shrines and temples remain friendly neighbours.