Chinju no Mori - Sacred Shrine Groves
The forested areas surrounding shrines, preserved as the natural habitat of kami.
Chinju no mori are the sacred groves surrounding shrines, preserved for centuries as the natural home of the kami. These forests, often the only remaining old-growth woodland in developed areas, embody the Shinto principle that nature and spirituality are inseparable.
The shrine grove is the earthly garden of the kami, to be protected and revered.
Chinju no mori have become important for biodiversity conservation in Japan.
Shrine traditions
Written about in
- What Shinto says about beauty
Shrine groves are frequently the only old-growth woodland left in a developed area. That is a fact about Japanese land, and it is also an indictment — the forest survived where it was called sacred and was cut down everywhere else.