Kyoto Hase Kuzuryū-taisha

Yamagisi Mantaro visits the Kuzuryū Sarasvati (the god of music, skillful speech, wealth, etc.) shrine on the first day of every month. Its there that he encountered the estimated more than 450 year old aka-matu (red pine tree) that has been enshrined as a goshin-boku (God tree).

However, the goshin-boku had already died and looked very painful.

Therefore, on August 9, 2005 , after planting the baby tree right by side of the trunk, he fell the goshin-boku using a 25 ton crane and a gondola, offering sake in prayer and then cutting all the branches off.

The torii (the gateway at the entrance to a Shinto shrine) had also deteriorated over the years. This torii could have threatened the safety of visitors to the shrine and the Kuzuryū Sarasvati. According to a carpenter who specializes in shrines and temples, the pillars of the torii were as soft as sponges and in very dangerous condition. Enya re-built the approximately 5.77 meter long torii in Sep. 2005.