SoapberryThe name of this tree 無患子 has a meaning of "to wish for no diseases for children." Soapberry nuts used to be used as soap. The seeds are used for making shuttles for traditional Japanese badminton and also for making Buddhist rosary beads.
Kaya Japanese nutmeg A dioecious plant whose nuts are edible. The tips of its leaves are sharp and can prick when touched, and it is said to have an exorcizing effect. Shrines have huge Kaya trees because the oil taken from the seeds was once used in lamps lit as an offering to deities. The close-grained boards taken from large Kaya trees are valued for their beautiful straight grain with less warping, and are used for making go boards and shogi boards.
ZelkovaThe tree has grown so huge that the branches of its large crown almost cover the hall of worship. There is a story about the Emperor Yuryaku, a maid, and a Zelkova tree in Hatsuse in the history book Kojiki, which tells of the greatness of the emperor.
Chinese pistachioSince a mace given to the people who passed Kakyo, the civil service examination in China until 1905, was made from Chinese pistachio, it is called a tree of studies, or a tree of Confucious, because his pupils planted it at his grave. It is also planted at educational institutions in Japan. Its Chinese name, 楷, is also the origin of the name of a standard handwriting style.
Monument of a tanka poem from the Manyo CollectionThe ancient Katsuragi clan was from this Katsuragi area. The Katsuragi clan thrived around the 4th to 5th centuries, and their influence equaled the great king's (imperial) family. Sotsuhiko Katsuragi was a hero around the end of the 4th century and is venerated as the first generation of the Katsuragi clan. There is a tanka poem mentioning his name in the Manyoshu. We built a monument inscribed with this tanka poem handwritten by Manyoshu researcher Mitsuru Sakurai to remember the Katsuragi clan of the old days.
Monument of Matsuo Basho's haiku Basho Matsuo has visited Mt. Katsuragi and made a haiku. Its monument is within the precincts of our shrine. Basho wrote: When I passed the foot of Mt. Katsuragi during a pilgrimage in Yamato (Nara), I saw a beautiful scene of a dawn with blooming flowers and mountains in haze. It is a pity that people indiscreetly tell a legend that the deity was ugly, so I wrote "I want to see all the more, the deity's face when the sun is beginning to shine on the flowers."
Statue of blissWe pray for longevity of the worshippers, and enshrine this statue which was made for wishing for health, good strong legs, and the prevention of senility.
Turtle stone (water god)There is a legend that Ennogyoja, the founder of Shugendo mountain asceticism, killed a black snake which brought misfortune and put a turtle-shaped stone on it. This stone is also called the happiness stone or cleansing stone, and worshippers purify their bodies with the water running from it.
Horaiseki good fortune stoneThis is a good luck talisman made of two natural granite stones from Mt. Katsuragi. When you look up from this stone, there is our main shrine where the deity is enshrined.
