How to Clap Kashiwade: Clearing Negative Ki and Reading the Ki of a Place

When people hear the word "applause," most think of something joyful: the clapping at the end of a concert that says "That was wonderful" or "Thank you." In Japanese, the same characters, 拍手, are usually read hakushu. But they can also be read kashiwade, which names the clap offered to the kami. You sometimes see it written 柏手, but the proper writing is 拍手.

When you pray at a shrine, you follow the sequence of two bows, two claps, one bow. The claps here are not only an expression of thanks. They clear negative ki and call the kami. And this is not a gesture reserved for shrines. It works anywhere.

01The formal way: lower the right hand slightly

Bring your hands together at chest height and settle your mind. Then draw the right hand down by about one finger joint of the left hand. Japan has long treated the left as the higher position. In the practice I learned, the left hand is taken to represent the kami and the right hand yourself. Lowering the right hand is a way of humbling yourself and showing respect. Clapped this way, the sound is high and clear, nothing like the sound of palms clapped flush together. Try both once and listen. The difference is unmistakable.

As for the number of claps, the tradition I learned uses four, the same as Izumo Taisha (schools differ on this). Clap a second, third, and fourth time, then bring the offset fingertips back into line. This expresses becoming one with the kami. I was taught that clapping four times also purifies the four directions: east, west, south, and north.

02Clap before a mountain rock, a river, the sea

I understand that before people had words, they connected through sound, not only person to person but person to thing, and person to kami. I believe the clap at a shrine is a trace of that.

If you meet a large iwakura (a sacred rock) while hiking, clap before it. In an instant the place becomes sacred. The same is true at a river or the sea. When you clap toward nature, what you no longer need flows out of you, and you yourself become a clean vessel. Then the ki of the kami descends into that vessel and your body grows warm. There is a rock like this near the summit of Mount Misen on Miyajima.

03At the center of your home, before and after cleaning

Kashiwade works at home as well. Through sound you can gauge your relationship with the iegami-sama (the kami of the house), which is to say, whether the ki of the house is good or heavy.

Try this on a day you plan to clean. Before you start, stand at the approximate center of the house. In a two-story home, the center of the first floor is best. Clap four times there and remember the sound. When the cleaning is done, clap four times in the same spot. It will sound completely different.

Once you can hear this difference, the sound of your own clap becomes your standard. Clap where you travel, or in a hotel room, and you can read the ki of that place for yourself.

04When a place feels heavy

The clap itself raises ki. If you sense "this place feels heavy," clap four times, then say: "Kami of this house, please purify the ki of this space so that we may spend our time here safely and at ease." Then clap four times again. You will find the sound has changed.

Kashiwade is not a special formality kept for shrines. At the center of your home, in the room where you stay on a journey, at a mountain or a river, there is always someone to meet through sound. One small sound can be the doorway to prayer. Let good ki circulate, one clap at a time.