Mikoshi
![A mikoshi of Hiyoshi-taisha.](/Images/godic/202501/27/Hiyoshi-taisha_juge-jinja-haiden02n45925349.jpg")
![Mikoshi fighting on Nada-no-Kenka Matsuri at Himeji.](/Images/godic/202501/27/Nada_no_Kenka_matsuri_,_himeji015349.JPG")
![This mikoshi enshrines Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Tōshō-gū in Nikkō](/Images/godic/202501/27/ToshoguMikoshi55349.jpg")
![(video) A local shrine being carried in Japan. As it is being carried the participants chant.](/Images/godic/202501/27/-Mikoshi-localshrine-2011.ogv5349.jpg")
A mikoshi(神輿) is a divine palanquin (also translated as portable Shinto shrine). Shinto followers believe that it serves as the vehicle to transport a deity in Japan while moving between main shrine and temporary shrine during a festival or when moving to a new shrine. Often, the mikoshi resembles a miniature building, with pillars, walls, a roof, a veranda and a railing.