Nara

Sep 8, 2014 - 1 min read

Katsuragi-Hitokotonushi Shrine

Nara shrine of a god who only hears one-word prayers

By Cathy Cawood

Community writer

Monk statues with pumpkins

Shrine building under the trees

Thick moss on a stone wall

A little house of fortune papers

Wooden lantern surrounded with autumn color

Small tunnel of red torii

There will be a lot of leaves to sweep up soon!

Mossy stone lantern

Stout beams support the ancient sacred gingko tree

The wooden ema tablets at the shrine seem to have more than one word on them

A closer look at the sacred gingko

Burgundy and yellow leaves

Autumn color glows around the steps to the shrine

This shrine belongs to the Shinto god, Ichigon-san, who will only hear one word of a prayer. People with requests for this god must form very short prayers! There is a very old sacred gingko tree near the main hall of the shrine, believed to be 1200 years old. Pregnant and nursing women pray here for healthy babies, because the tree has growths which look a bit like breasts. The autumn leaves at this Nara shrine were very pretty.

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Cathy Cawood

By Cathy Cawood

Community writer

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