Gehōbako

{{Short description|Ritual object used by miko}}

A {{nihongo3||外法箱|gehōbako}} is a box that contains many magical items traditionally used by miko,{{Cite web |date=2021-02-08 |last1=Fairchild |first1=William P. |title=Shamanism in Japan |url=https://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/457 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208010309/https://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/457 |archive-date=2021-02-08 |access-date=2023-02-12 |page=78}} and Itako.{{Cite web |last=日本国語大辞典 |first=精選版 |title=外法箱(げほうばこ)とは？ 意味や使い方 |url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%A4%96%E6%B3%95%E7%AE%B1-257156 |access-date=2023-02-11 |website=コトバンク |language=ja}}{{cite journal |last1=Schiffer |first1=Wilhelm |date=1967 |title=Necromancers in the Tohoku |url=http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/3186 |journal=Journal: Contemporary Religions in Japan |volume=8 |issue=2}}{{rp|180}}{{cite journal |last1=Fairchild |first1=William P. |date=1962 |title=Shamanism in Japan (1–122) |url=http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/457 |journal=Asian Ethnology |volume=21}}{{rp|66}}

It means {{lit|outer-ways box}}, in reference to practices outside of Buddhist teachings. It is a box which contains secret items representative of a protective spirit, or kami.{{rp|180}}{{rp|66}} It has been described as "parallel [to] the siberian shaman's drum as a source of power{{rp|103}} They have been described as representing a pre-Buddhist shamanism.{{Cite book |last=Kamstra |first=Jacques H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NRsVAAAAIAAJ&dq=Geh%C5%8Dbako&pg=PA469 |title=Encounter Or Syncretism: The Initial Growth of Japanese Buddhism |date=1967 |publisher=Brill Archive |language=en}} It is often used for healing people.{{Cite book |last1=Vrijhof |first1=P. H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sOUBiAPxfigC&dq=Geh%C5%8Dbako&pg=PA444 |title=Official and Popular Religion: Analysis of a Theme for Religious Studies |last2=Waardenburg |first2=Jean Jacques |date=1979 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-90-279-7998-8 |language=en}}

It is believed at some point in premodern times most miko had human skulls in their gehōbako from people who promised their skulls to them, but this practice declined over time{{rp|77}}

Dolls for Kuebiko and Kangiten were often found in them in the 1960s.{{rp|77}}

Gehōbako were common among wandering miko{{rp|85}}