cryptomeria trees surrounding TAMAKI Shinto shrine in Nara

This is an old shrine, so far away from where people live. Those who practiced mountain ascetics came here to start walking on one of the mountain trails. Today you can come to the parking lot which leads to the shrine by car. 15 to 20-minute walk takes you to the main hall of the shrine. 

What impressed me more than the shrine halls, however, was a group of cryptomeria trees native to the area where the shrine stands. Many are some thousand years old. We are nothing compared with these majestic trees. Let us be humble and live with the awe to Mother Nature.

mountains seen from the parking lot

the first tri-i gate to the shrine

a tree trunk covered with moss