Shirakawa Hachiman Shrine and Cedar Trees

Shirakawa Hachiman Shrine has served as the main Shinto sanctuary in the village of Ogimachi since the seventeenth century, when samurai general Yamashita Ujikatsu established it on its current site. During the Edo period it was the head shrine of all 42 villages collectively known as Shirakawa-go. A giant Japanese cedar stands beside the torii gate, and a pair of cedar trees in front of the main sanctuary have grown together near the ground. These trees are part of the sacred shrine grove and are themselves considered objects of veneration. The adjacent Shakado Hall houses seventeenth-century Buddha statues, a reminder of the era before Shinto and Buddhism were formally separated.