Saisen

A saisenbako

In Japanese, saisen (賽銭) refers to money offered to the gods or bodhisattvas. It commonly refers to money put in a saisen box (賽銭箱, saisen-bako), a common item at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Japan. Used to collect offerings, a saisen box is in essence a standard coin box, save for the fact that the top cover is a grate. This design allows coins to be tossed in, while still preventing the money to be retrieved easily. Those with better designs typically have grates made of round bars, or have its top surface act as a slope, allowing the money to slide into the box easily.

References

• Iwanami Kōjien (広辞苑) Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version