butsudan

British  

/ ˈbʊtsəˌdæn /

noun

1. (in Buddhism) a small household altar

2. (in Nichiren Buddhism) an ornate cabinet which holds the Gohonzon

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Etymology

Origin of butsudan

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

Example Sentences

A large Buddhist shrine, known as a butsudan, is stationed in the living room at Stone’s spacious bungalow along a canal in Fort Lauderdale.

From Washington Post • Apr. 18, 2017

Toyoda says he often channels inspiration from Kiichiro in quiet moments before the family butsudan, or Buddhist altar, at his home outside Nagoya.

From BusinessWeek • Dec. 17, 2014

The doors of the butsudan are opened; and tapers are lighted before the tablets of the ancestors; and incense is burned.

From Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan Second Series by Hearn, Lafcadio

Or she at dusk, in sick distress, Before the butsudan, Must to ancestral tablets pray—not to her Moto-San!

From Nirvana Days by Rice, Cale Young

On a rude shelf he recognised the butsudan of' forty years before, with its tablet, and now, as then, a tiny lamp was burning in front of the kaimyo.

From Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan Second Series by Hearn, Lafcadio