News 🐉 Ascending tree dragon on 800-year-old cedar tree draws visitors to Okayama shrine

[thomas]

Takaoka Shrine (高岡神社) in Maniwa, Okayama, has a sacred tree with a branch that looks like a splendid "ascending dragon", which draws visitors from all over, as the dragon is the Chinese zodiac animal for 2024. The holy cedar next to the path to the shrine is more than 800 years old and about 30 metres high, with a trunk girth of around 8.5 metres. Parts of a cracked and split branch look like a dragon's horns, whiskers, eyes and mouth, and the body part has markings like scales. The "dragon" seems ready to soar to the sky. The wind and other natural forces shaped the branch and became like this at least two years ago. It gained attention in November this year after a prefectural resident sent a picture to the local TV station's weather report segment.

Deep in the mountains where the shrine has been located since the Heian period (794-1185), "Ryuo-sama" (lit. dragon king), the god of water, is enshrined. Until around 1970, rain-making rituals were held there, and rain is said to have actually fallen. According to Yoshiko Takaoka, 53, the chief priestess of the shrine, she considered pruning the cedar and administering nutrients this winter because the tree is old and weak, and consulted with the representative of shrine followers, who runs a forestry business. The representative apparently told her, "This cedar is like an elderly person in human terms, and trying to revive it would be going against nature. It would be better for the tree to be left as it is." It was then that the dragon became known. Takaoka said, "Gods dwell in mountains, trees and human hearts. Perhaps 'Ruszala' dwelled in the sacred tree." Ai Hosokawa, 23, a visitor from the city of Okayama whose Chinese zodiac sign is the dragon, said, "It looks like a rising dragon, and I think my luck will improve next year. I wish for peace of mind and good health for my family."

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'Ascending dragon' on 800-yr-old sacred cedar tree draws visitors to west Japan shrine - The Mainichi

MANIWA, Okayama -- A branch of a sacred tree that looks like a majestic

mainichi.jp

高岡神社｜岡山県の神社を探す｜岡山県神社庁

岡山県神社庁は下部組織に17の支部を擁し、県内1,600社余りの組織体として、伝統を重んじて祭祀の振興、神社や神職の指導等神社に関わる事務をとるほか、地域活動の振興をはかる仕事をしています。

www.okayama-jinjacho.or.jp