The Boundary between God and the Spirit of the Wood: How the Forests of Yakushima Became a "Sacred Place" (Post-War Showa Period)

The Boundary between God and the Spirit of the Wood: How the Forests of Yakushima Became a "Sacred Place" (Post-War Showa Period)

In the postwar Showa period, logging and power development progressed on Yakushima Island, and the forest was transformed from a dependence for daily life into a national production resource. However, the islanders' sense of awe toward "what dwells in the forest" remained alive, and tree spirits and mountain deities were spoken of as personal entities. The Mokurei-jinja Shrine symbolized this struggle between faith and rationality, and was a place of negotiation between forest and people. The loggers, hanging their heads before the gods, felled the trees with the same hands, thus combining their faith and their livelihood. For them, logging was both a ritual and an act of respecting the trees and keeping them alive. Eventually, the "sacred forest" came to be institutionally protected through tourism and World Heritage designation, but its essence is not a relic of faith, but a "forest as relationship" that is renewed in the modern age. The voice of the tree spirit is not sile
nced, but still breathes in the moist air of the island.