Tadasu Forest and Shimogamo Shrine

It’s a wonderful and superb forest.

Hello, everyone. I’m currently at Tadasu no Mori in Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City. This is the vast sacred forest of Shimogamo Shrine, a place where you can step into a natural forest setting right in the heart of Kyoto.
“The forest in city protects the environment by helping purify the air and its rich life and the changing seasonal scenery also soothe people’s minds and bodies and provide children with a place to learn about the lives of forest creatures and the workings of nature.”
As stated on the Tadasu no Mori Foundation’s website, Tadasu no Mori – covered in lush forests – quietly and gently purified my weary mind and body.

Nature is alive. Trees, grass, and the creatures living beneath the soil – though they differ in form and shape – all live the same live, equal to one another.

When you listen closely in the forest and let yourself be enveloped by this green paradise, you can hear the heartbeat of the trees. The sound of leaves rustling as they sway in the wind. The sound of life’s rhythms emanating from the great trees. Even though I cannot touch the trees directly, when I think of the various microorganisms active beneath the soil, I am deeply moved by the realization that their work sustains the trees, and sense the sound of life.
When we listen to the voice of the forest and tune in to its heartbeat, we can truly feel that “we are all living the same life together.”
When I live surrounded by nature, I feel it really brings home just how small we humans are. And since we’re here anyway, let’s take a trip to Shimogamo Shrine.

At Shimogamo Shrine, Kamo-Takenutumi-no-Mikoto is enshrined in the West Main Hall, and his divine daughter, Tamayori-hime-no-Mikoto, is enshrined in the East Main Hall.

“Kamo-Takenutumi-no-Mikoto is a deity who founded ancient Kyoto. He is enshrined as the principal deity of Yamashiro Province and the guardian deity of Kyoto. When Heian-kyo was being constructed, prayers for success were first offered at this shrine. Since then, it has been designated as a shrine dedicated to praying for the peace and well-being of the people. According to the *Fudoki* of Yamashiro Province and other sources, when Princess Tamayori-hime was performing a misogi (a ritual purification) in the Kamo River, she picked up a red-painted arrow that had floated down from upstream and placed it on her bed; the arrow then transformed into a handsome deity, and they were married.

Furthermore, since there is a myth that she gave birth to a child, she has long been revered as a deity of matchmaking and child-rearing. This shrine is dedicated to a guardian deity who prays for the peace and well-being of the nation and its people, as well as for world peace. It is also a deity that protects people’s daily lives by warding off misfortune, fostering romantic relationships, granting fertility, ensuring safe childbirth, supporting child-rearing, and promoting traffic safety”. (From the Shimogamo Shrine website)

What kind of deity is enshrined at this shrine? Once I learned more about it, I began to see things I hadn’t noticed before, and I started to feel closer to God.
This time, it was a trip that I was purified my body and heart through the strolling through Tadasu no Mori and Shimogamo Shrine, and felt lives by feeling the nature.

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Author

Jubei
Hello everyone. I am Jubei, an earthling whose energy does not stop today. What I like is playing (manga, movies, music (J-Rock, etc.) and visiting cafes). Thank you for your understanding.