sacred forests

The article about sacred forests in the August 29th issue of Jinja Shinpō reported on the ongoing activities of a group that is investigating the sacred forests in the area covered by the ancient Musashi province. That area covers much of Tokyo and Saitama prefectures, and a bit of Kanagawa — I live in what was Musashi. Although it covers a lot of extremely urban areas, the northern mountains suffer from depopulation, so it is quite a diverse area. The group is made up of volunteers, and the people who… Read More »Sacred Forests of Musashi Province

The August 29th issue of Jinja Shinpō had an article written by the chief priest of a jinja in Shiga Prefecture in response to the articles about sacred forests. The jinja is in a town, facing onto the main road through it; the precincts cover about a hectare, and there is a good forest, including a keyaki (Japanese zelkova) with a trunk 4.5 metres in circumference. The woodland is designated by the city as a protected woodland, and people often visit it. However, maintenance is a major task. The trees… Read More »The Burdens of Sacred Forests

There have been a couple of articles in Jinja Shinpō on the legal situation around sacred forests, written by a priest who is also a lawyer. (These articles were in the July 4th and July 11th issues.) The first article drew attention to the fact that sacred forests were declining, and that this was generally due to decisions taken by the jinja themselves. The sacred forests are, after all, private property, and so other bodies cannot normally cut them down. (There are occasional exceptions for government-mandated projects.) There are two… Read More »Laws on Sacred Forests