Ise Jingu begins preparing new homes for enshrined kami
AGEMATSU, Nagano Prefecture—The traditional Misoma Hajime Sai ceremony, in which sacred trees are felled for timber to house Shinto deities at the famed Ise Jingu shrine, was held in the Akasawa Recreation Forest here on June 3.
The tree-cutting event is the first step in the Shikinen Sengu ceremony, the most important Shinto festival of the Ise Jingu shrine complex in Mie Prefecture.
It is held every 20 years to relocate the deities enshrined there into newly constructed shrine buildings. The next Shikinen Sengu ceremony is scheduled for 2033.
Sayako Kuroda, 56, chief priestess at Ise Jingu shrine and the younger sister of Emperor Naruhito, attended the ceremony alongside approximately 350 other spectators, despite the rain.
The two trees were a type of Japanese cypress unique to the Kiso area of Nagano Prefecture.
The 26-meter-high trees, estimated to be 300 years old, stood in front of the ceremony site.
After a ritual was held, Ise Jingu officials and members of 'Mitsuhimo giri hozon kai,' an association to preserve a traditional forestry technique, made cuts in the trees from three directions.
When the trees fell, the onlookers erupted into cheers and applause.
The sacred trees will be sent to Ise Jingu on the morning of June 6.
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