butsudan

noun plural butsudan or -dans

(in Buddhism) a small household altar
(in Nichiren Buddhism) an ornate cabinet which holds the Gohonzon

Word Origin for butsudan

from Japanese butsu Buddha (from Chinese fu) + dan shelf

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Examples from the Web for butsudan

Historical Examples of butsudan

Finding that he had, she bade him open the butsudan and light a lamp.
Myths & Legends of Japan
F. Hadland (Frederick Hadland) Davis
Going to the Butsudan, or house altar, at once he lit the lamps.
The Yotsuya Kwaidan or O'Iwa Inari
James S. De Benneville
The farmer expressed his fear of spirits, whereupon the woman inquired if her host had a butsudan (a family altar).
Myths & Legends of Japan
F. Hadland (Frederick Hadland) Davis
At home, the ancestral tablets in the Butsudan form the centre of the ceremonies.
Japanese Girls and Women
Alice Mabel Bacon
Deign to refrain from taking life in the house; nay, before the very ihai in the Butsudan.
The Yotsuya Kwaidan or O'Iwa Inari
James S. De Benneville