The weather has not been too bad these few days and so I decided to go on a hike to the Tachibana Shinto Shrine. It was not easy to walk in the jungle because it was a lot bushier compared to our last hikes. During the Japanese time the area was called “Kahet” which means orange in Chamorro. They called it Kahet because there were so many orange trees in that area during the Japanese time. The Japanese word “Tachibana” means wild orange.
The Tachibana Shrine is covered with growing Tagantagan and grass. The site is about 0.24 miles west from the Seabee Monument. The parking area for the shrine is surrounded by pine trees. The site is about 580 feet from the parking area. The flame tree was planted during the Japanese period and so it is thought that there could be sites of interest where ever those trees are found.
This is the jungle where we entered heading to Tachibana Shrine.
The photo above is of Lina and Erica hiking in the jungle.
There are an abundance of bamboo trees in the jungle where the site is. Weeds have difficulty growing in the bamboo tree forest.
The concrete foundations of the shrine remains and the fence is slowly breaking apart every year. We are now on our way to the torii gate. If you walk to the left of the foundation you will be able to find it.
I drew this map so you can easily imagine how they build shrine and placed these structures.
This is the first lantern, the top part of the lantern has disappeared.
The second lantern still has its upper structure intact. I cleared off the lantern area because I could not get a good picture. The vines and weeds covered the entire lanterns
This is the opposite side of the leg.
I put the two pictures together. (please click the picture to see lager image.)
There is a washing area for your hands and mouth to purify yourself before entering the shrine. This is a custom that is practiced in Japan.
There is a concrete foundation and its size is about 16 feet long. It seems to look like a water tank. I'm not sure but it's used to set the deity’s house on top of the stairs.
I am in the picture above. I am pulling up weeds around torii gate area.
We are returning back to the car and on the way back we found this mushroom.
On our next hike I plan to look for the missing part of the lantern.
I drew this map so you can easily imagine how they build shrine and placed these structures.
This is the first lantern, the top part of the lantern has disappeared.
The second lantern still has its upper structure intact. I cleared off the lantern area because I could not get a good picture. The vines and weeds covered the entire lanterns
This is the right side of the leg.
The torii gate between the two lantern lay fallen on the ground. I cleaned the area too because I could not get a good picture of it. I wanted to take a picture of the entire gate but I didn’t have room to back up and so I decided to take a picture for each part of it.
This is the opposite side of the leg.
I put the two pictures together. (please click the picture to see lager image.)
There is a washing area for your hands and mouth to purify yourself before entering the shrine. This is a custom that is practiced in Japan.
There is a concrete foundation and its size is about 16 feet long. It seems to look like a water tank. I'm not sure but it's used to set the deity’s house on top of the stairs.
I am in the picture above. I am pulling up weeds around torii gate area.
We are returning back to the car and on the way back we found this mushroom.
On our next hike I plan to look for the missing part of the lantern. By Mitch
