I really enjoy going to the Shrines & Temples here in Japan . What I didn’t know about was Goshuin. These are stamps – shuin that you can get at most Shrines & Temples in Japan. Temple or shrine attendants will stamp your book and then hand write with ink & brush the name of the shrine or temple and the date. You must have a special book- goshuin chou for the shuin. Don’t try and get a stamp in the same book that you used to collect your tourist stamps.
Goshuin are special & sacred.
some of the seven stamps that I have collected so far.
I went to the Osu Kannon market the other day and found an old Goshuin chou. Stamps in the book date from 1933 to 1986. Someone spent 64 years collecting stamps in this little book.
Some of the stamps in this little old book.
kathyinkyoto 
I have not noted this process before. I suppose the goshuin is about recording your spiritual connections and connection to the shrine or temple.
Where are the goshuin obtained, and how do they differ from the visitor stamp books (which I was not aware of either?
To get your goshuin you leave your book at the place where you buy your entry ticket and amulets, pay 300 yen and then pick it up after your visit to the temple or shrine. You can buy the special books at the same place and they are quite beautiful. Japanese people do this as a way of recording the shrines and temples they visit and it sort of gives you credits in the afterlife. Kathy
Thank you