Why Sakaki Belongs on the Kamidana — Its Origin in the Kojiki and How to Care for It at Home

01Do you offer sakaki without knowing why?

If you have visited a grandparent's home, you have probably seen a kamidana (a household shrine) with a pair of green sakaki branches on either side. It is a familiar sight, yet many people find it hard to say why sakaki is used or what it means. Some offer it without knowing; others skip it because they are not sure what it is for.

There is a reason for offering sakaki. Knowing it, I believe, changes the way you stand before your kamidana.

02Sakaki in the Amano-Iwato scene of the Kojiki

The use of sakaki in Shinto rites is very old. It appears in the first book of the Kojiki, Japan's oldest chronicle, in the scene of Amano-Iwato. When Amaterasu-Ōmikami, the sun goddess, hid herself in the heavenly rock cave and the world fell into darkness, the kami gathered to plan a rite that would draw her out. Ame-no-Koyane and Futodama uprooted a great sakaki tree, the ihotsu-masakaki, from Mount Kagu in heaven. On its upper branches they hung a long string of curved jewels, on its middle branches a large mirror, and on its lower branches white and blue cloth. Futodama held the tree up as a grand offering while Ame-no-Koyane recited a norito (a ritual prayer)¹.

In other words, sakaki has stood at the center of rites to welcome the kami since the age of myth. The character for sakaki, 榊, combines the elements for "tree" and "kami." It is a kokuji, a character created in Japan, and its meaning, the tree used for sacred rites, is written into the character itself.

03Sakaki at a ground-breaking rite and sakaki on the kamidana

Sakaki is still used today as a himorogi, a temporary dwelling place for the kami, in Shinto rites. If you have ever built a house, you may have seen a sakaki branch standing at the center of the altar at a jichinsai (a ground-breaking rite). That branch is the himorogi. The kami is invited there, and the family asks permission to build on the land.

As for the sakaki on a kamidana, I understand it as marking the boundary between the realm of the kami and the realm of human beings. It is a sign that says the space beyond is sacred. This is my own understanding, but I feel that without sakaki, the kami cannot tell that the place is sacred, and cannot know whether it is right to descend there. That is why I encourage those who keep a kamidana to offer sakaki, so that the kami can be welcomed.

04When to replace it, and what to do when it withers

It is commonly said that sakaki should be replaced on the 1st and 15th of each month. This custom is said to follow the practice of shrines, which hold monthly rites such as the tsukinamisai on those days. In an ordinary home, however, it is perfectly fine to keep the sakaki until it withers and the leaves grow sparse. If you change the water every day, it will last about a month.

In my home, when the leaves begin to thin, I buy one bundle of sakaki, divide it in two, and add it to what is already there. Sakaki is a living plant. Rather than throwing away branches that are still green, I prefer to treat them with care.

One more suggestion from my own experience: choose domestically grown sakaki. It costs a little more, but compared with imported sakaki from China, it lasts about three times as long in my experience. Because it stays green longer, it is actually less work in the end.

05A kamidana is my first recommendation, not a requirement

Many people living in apartments do not have a kamidana. Today there are modern designs that suit Western-style rooms. If you want a place to pray inside your home, a kamidana is my first recommendation, because it becomes a window that connects you with the kami.

But a kamidana is not something you must have. I have written separately about how to keep an ofuda (a shrine talisman) and an omamori (a protective amulet) in a home without a kamidana. With or without a kamidana, what matters more than form is a heart that honors the kami.

There is no rule that says it must be done one way. That is exactly why I want to put my heart into the small act of changing the sakaki.