Japan for Sustainability’s Junko Edahiro describes the history of the ceremony at length and reports on the upcoming festivities:
This is an important national event. Its underlying concept — that repeated rebuilding renders sanctuaries eternal — is unique in the world.
The Sengu is such a large event that preparations take over eight years, four years alone just to prepare the timber.Locals take part in a parade to transport the prepared wood along with white stones—two per person—which they place in sacred spots around the shrine. In addition to reinvigorating spiritual and community bonds, the tradition keeps Japanese artisan skills alive. The shrine’s visitor site describes this aspect of the Shikinen Sengo ceremony:
It also involves the wish that Japanese traditional culture should be transmitted to the next generation. The renewal of the buildings and of the treasures has been conducted in the same traditional way ever since the first Shikinen Sengu had been performed 1300 years ago. Scientific developments make manual technology obsolete in some fields. However, by performing the Shikinen Sengu, traditional technologies are preserved.As Edahiro describes, oftentimes local people will take part in the ceremony several times throughout the course of their lives. “I saw one elderly person who probably has experienced these events three or four times saying to young people who perhaps participated in the event as children last time, ‘I will leave these duties to you next time,’” she recalls. “ I realized that the Sengu ceremony also plays a role as a “device” to preserve the foundations of traditions that contribute to happiness in people’s lives.”
by Rachel Nuwer, Smithsonian | Read more:
Image: N Yotarou
[ed. The author László Krasznahorkai took part in the ritual rebuilding of a Shinto shrine. There he witnessed ancient tradition, and the toll it takes. For one disciple, “his job is to plane this piece of hinoki cypress, and he planes it all day. And the master comes at the end of the day and he throws it away. And he keeps on planing and planing it…until the master decides that it’s OK. That’s tradition. But there’s no nostalgia in that.” (The Economist).
Also, from the JFS Junko Edahiro link (above): As many as 10,000 Japanese cypress trees are needed each time the Jingu sanctuaries of Ise are rebuilt. How have people secured so many Japanese cypress trees every 20 years?
The Jingu Shrine itself owns a large parcel of land 5,500 hectares in extent, and over 90 percent of this land is covered in forest. This forest, called the "Misoma-yama," was created as a result of learning from experience in the past. Timber was formerly taken from this forest to use for the Sengu rebuilding ceremony as well as for firewood. In the Edo Period (1603-1867), about 7 to 9 million people - about the same number as in modern times -- came to worship at Jingu Shrine every year. Firewood was needed for these pilgrims, who normally stayed near the site for several days. As a result the local forest was increasingly exploited, and the timber resource became depleted.
During the Edo Period, the central government (the shogunate) designated a forest in the Kiso area owned by the Owari clan in today's Nagano Prefecture to supply timber to Jingu Shrine. However, toward the end of the Edo Period, this forest became Imperial property, and after World War II it was designated a national forest. Jingu Shrine is given priority in purchasing timber for the Sengu ceremony from this forest, but it is not the only buyer of this rather expensive timber.
Thus it became more and more difficult for Jingu Shrine to depend entirely on domestic resources for the Sengu rebuilding ceremony. This possibility was foreseen by shrine staff, who started taking action 90 years ago. Thinking that the shrine should have its own forest to provide timber for reconstruction, the shrine secretariat ("Jingu Shicho," part of the Interior Ministry) formed a forest management plan during the Taisho Period (1912 - 1926), and started planting trees. At the time, the nominal purpose of the project was said to be landscape conservation and enhancement of the water resource recharging function of the Isuzu River, but Japanese cypresses were also planted on southern slopes.
This afforestation plan encompassed a 200-year time-scale, and aimed to start semi-permanently supplying all the timber for the Sengu ceremony from Shrine-owned forest within 200 years. This plan made it possible to obtain one-fourth of the necessary timber for this year's Sengu ceremony from Shrine lands. This proportion will increase every 20 years. Although the remainder must be purchased from other domestic sources, shrine forests are expected to be able to provide all the timber for future reconstruction ceremonies earlier than originally planned.
The Sengu is such a large event that preparations take over eight years, four years alone just to prepare the timber. Logs are soaked in a lumber pond for two years after felling, a method known as "underwater drying," used to leach extraneous oil out of the logs. The logs are then stacked outside for a year to acclimatize them to the severities of the four seasons. It takes another year to saw them into shape, and finally to cover them with Japanese paper to keep them in good condition until the ceremony.This long curing process strengthens the timber, prevents it from warping or cracking, and prepares it to play its proper part in the ceremony with its central concept of protecting life.]
The Jingu Shrine itself owns a large parcel of land 5,500 hectares in extent, and over 90 percent of this land is covered in forest. This forest, called the "Misoma-yama," was created as a result of learning from experience in the past. Timber was formerly taken from this forest to use for the Sengu rebuilding ceremony as well as for firewood. In the Edo Period (1603-1867), about 7 to 9 million people - about the same number as in modern times -- came to worship at Jingu Shrine every year. Firewood was needed for these pilgrims, who normally stayed near the site for several days. As a result the local forest was increasingly exploited, and the timber resource became depleted.
During the Edo Period, the central government (the shogunate) designated a forest in the Kiso area owned by the Owari clan in today's Nagano Prefecture to supply timber to Jingu Shrine. However, toward the end of the Edo Period, this forest became Imperial property, and after World War II it was designated a national forest. Jingu Shrine is given priority in purchasing timber for the Sengu ceremony from this forest, but it is not the only buyer of this rather expensive timber.
Thus it became more and more difficult for Jingu Shrine to depend entirely on domestic resources for the Sengu rebuilding ceremony. This possibility was foreseen by shrine staff, who started taking action 90 years ago. Thinking that the shrine should have its own forest to provide timber for reconstruction, the shrine secretariat ("Jingu Shicho," part of the Interior Ministry) formed a forest management plan during the Taisho Period (1912 - 1926), and started planting trees. At the time, the nominal purpose of the project was said to be landscape conservation and enhancement of the water resource recharging function of the Isuzu River, but Japanese cypresses were also planted on southern slopes.
This afforestation plan encompassed a 200-year time-scale, and aimed to start semi-permanently supplying all the timber for the Sengu ceremony from Shrine-owned forest within 200 years. This plan made it possible to obtain one-fourth of the necessary timber for this year's Sengu ceremony from Shrine lands. This proportion will increase every 20 years. Although the remainder must be purchased from other domestic sources, shrine forests are expected to be able to provide all the timber for future reconstruction ceremonies earlier than originally planned.
The Sengu is such a large event that preparations take over eight years, four years alone just to prepare the timber. Logs are soaked in a lumber pond for two years after felling, a method known as "underwater drying," used to leach extraneous oil out of the logs. The logs are then stacked outside for a year to acclimatize them to the severities of the four seasons. It takes another year to saw them into shape, and finally to cover them with Japanese paper to keep them in good condition until the ceremony.This long curing process strengthens the timber, prevents it from warping or cracking, and prepares it to play its proper part in the ceremony with its central concept of protecting life.]
