Wakamiya-no-ōkusu camphor tree, Wakamiya-jinja, Kasuga-taisha, Nara, Japan

            Nara was founded in 710 CE as Japan's first permanent capital, and even after Heian-kyō (Kyoto) became the seat of the Emperor, and hence political capital, in 794, the temples and shrines of Nara, or Nanto Shichi Daiji, remained spiritually important – Nanto (南都) even means 'the southern capital'. 
Oddly, Nara has only been a city since 1898, 29 years after the capital moved again, to Edo (Tokyo), but the eight major temples, shrines and ruins (plus Kasugayama Primeval Forest) of the 'Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara' UNESCO World Heritage Site make Nara a significant destination of pilgrimage – not least by tourists.

The most famous Shinto shrine in Nara is Kasuga-taisha, established by the Fujiwara family in 768, when the grand shrine's first kami is said to have ridden a white deer to the summit of Mikasa-yama.
This partly explains the large number of sika deer wandering Nara Park, 'sacred messengers' encouraged by tourists feeding them rice crackers – itself not entirely recommended, as they're wild animals and can be aggressive.

Wakamiya-jinja, founded in 1135 and reconstructed in 1863, is a prominent auxiliary shrine in the grand shrine's grounds, and location of the popular Kasuga Wakamiya  Onmatsuri festival. 

A Shinto belief is that trees older than a century become the homes of kodama spirits, giving the trees personality. At a height of 24 m and circumference of 11½ m,  (ōkusu (大楠) simply means 'giant camphor tree') is considered to be one of the largest trees in the prefecture – and as a sign notes, that's after "a snap-off by heavy snowfall in 1719 dwarfed the tree". Botanically, it's a specimen of Cinnamomum camphora, thought to be a fusion of three different saplings.
Camphor has medicinal properties and is inherently significant in Shinto, with associations of healing – rather relevant to the plot of Studio Ghibli's 'Tonari no Totoro' (1988), which features a large ōkusu and resident tree spirits.
   

Taken in: Japan / Nara / Byakukōjichō (show map)

Taken on: November 7, 2016

Tags:

ōkusu

camphor

wakamiya jinja

kasuga taisha

春日大社

nara

奈良市

prefecture

奈良県

kansai

関西地方

honshu

本州

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Sets appears in: • Japan: Nara

Groups appears in: • Japan Images • Shinto 　　　神道 more » • Nara ～奈良 • Temples,Shrines & Castles of Japan. ( + Deities) 日本 • Tree Photos • 日本 Nihon Japan Japón जापान Japão Xapón « less

Camera: Canon EOS 60D, f/11.0, 1/10 sec, 31mm, ISO 500 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 60D
Lens:	EF-S15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Aperture:	f/11.0
Exposure Time:	0.1 sec (1/10)
Focal Length:	31mm
ISO:	500
Exposure Bias:	-5/3 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Center-weighted average
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CC 2019 (Windows)
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