The other article about trees in the 10th February issue of Jinja Shinpō was by Suzuë, in one of her regular “Thoughts in the Forest” columns. The title is “The sacred mystery of hair”, which is a pun because the Japanese for “hair” is “kami”, and the article is mostly about hair, particularly hers. Apparently, it has a natural wave, which is unusual in Japan, and she used to have a complex about it. She also mentions that Izanagi Jingū, on Awaji Island in Hyōgo Prefecture, has an annual ceremony to offer thanks for the hair on our heads, and that miko and female priests are expected to have long hair.
The part I want to talk about, however, concerns her home jinja. Some years ago, the jinja was rebuilding, and had to cut down some camphor trees — about twenty, if I have understood the article correctly. I think Suzuë has written about this before, and said that she was not happy about the decision, even though there was not really any choice. Given that the trees had to be cut down, she wanted to perform a ceremony to mark that, and, effectively, apologise to the trees.
She scattered rice and sakë around the trees, following a standard method of purification, and then performed “tobusatatë”, in which one of the smallest branches of the tree is fitted into a slot cut in the upper surface of the stump, and then reverence is paid to the tree or its kami. This is a traditional rite in forestry, and is still performed, although I do not know how broadly. I have only seen other references to it in connection with trees associated with Isë Jingū, but that is also about the only context in which I read about forestry.
Then she had her favourite hairdresser cut her hair off in front of the trees. The cut hair was about fifty centimetres long, and she says that it looked trustworthy, as if it knew what its job was. When the Jichinsai ceremony was held before the new sanctuary was built, this hair was buried in the centre of the site along with the traditional offerings.
Suzuë is not completely clear about her motivations, but it seems that she felt that cutting her hair off was, symbolically, parallel to the felling of the trees, and a way to express her sympathy and regret. In Japan, cutting hair off has historically had important symbolic meaning, often representing the renunciation of something. It was an important part of taking vows as a Buddhist monk or nun, for example, and a different sort of haircut was associated with loss of samurai status, if I recall correctly. The change from traditional Japanese to western hairstyles was also a significant part of the cultural shift at the Meiji Revolution in the late nineteenth century.
To the best of my knowledge, this is not a standard ceremony, and she does not write as if it is. It seems that Suzuë created it herself, drawing on elements that are traditional, but combining them in a new way to fit the situation. It also seems that this has never happened again. I get the impression that this sort of one-off ritual is more common in Shinto than you would think from the official stance, and that these ceremonies are part of the way Shinto adapts to a changing world.