What is a "kami-dana"?

In Japan, A "kami-dana" means a usually wooden rack on which we enshrine our god in home or sometimes our offices. Kami means the god or sacred spirits and Dana(Tana) means a rack. Usually we worship Uji-Gami(Kami), which means our local spiritual existence. That is thought to be an invisible Guardian in our local area. We offer thanks to Uji-Gami for letting us live in his/her place. Nowadays there aren't so many people, especially in younger generation, who have Kami-Dana in their house, but I think NOT forgetting appreciation to our local deities is the tips for having a lucky life.

So, what is God in Japan? It's thought to be sacred spirits of the nature.  And also it is our inner God, divine energy. The reason why the mirror is set in the main hall of the shrine as the symbol of the God is the existence that  reflects on the mirror indicates the God itself - the human ourselves. In a word "kagami", which means a mirror in Japanese, "ga" lies between "ka" and "mi". Kami means the God and Ga means our ego. So if we remove our ego from ourselves, there appears the God. It's a wonder of Japanese language.

By the way, I'm taking the TOEIC exam tomorrow. I'll do my best!