Kumano Hongu Shii (Powerswood)

Kumano Hongu Shii

This tree is found in Hongu, Hongu-cho, Tanabe City, Wakayama Prefecture, where Kumano Hongu Taisha Shrine is located.
Kumano Hongu Taisha Shrine is the center of the Kumano Sanzan (Hongu, Hayatama, and Nachi Taisha), and is the head shrine of the more than 4,700 Kumano shrines across the country.
There is a custom handed down in the former town of Motomiya of decorating New Year's pine trees, and it is said that if a tree with straight, beautiful branches is used, the house will prosper.
At Kumano Hongu Taisha Shrine, the Mikamigi Shinto Ceremony is held, in which firewood is donated to the shrine to be used to cook the sacred food for the year.
It is customary for young boys of the shrine's parishioners to make offerings, and is said to have begun during the reign of Emperor Seiwa. It has been designated as an intangible folk cultural property of the prefecture.
One of the firewood used there is chestnut wood from Honmiya.