For ordinary use shimenawa is made of rice rope. For special use hemp may be used.
Mie gov’t rejects cannabis cultivation request for Shinto rituals
The Mie prefectural government said Friday it has rejected a request from a group of shrines to cultivate cannabis for hemp “shimenawa” rope used for Shinto rituals, citing the danger of theft and misuse.
The prefectural government in central Japan said it notified the Ise-based group that sufficient measures, such as installing a security camera, had not been planned to be implemented and hemp shimenawa rope can be made with imported cannabis.
Shimenawa rope is always hung with the thin end to the left
In recent years, Japan has imported around 90 percent of its cannabis for hemp shimenawa rope from China, according to the group. Most domestic cannabis is produced in Tochigi Prefecture in eastern Japan.
Ise, in Mie Prefecture, is known for the Ise Shrine, which dates back around 2,000 years and is dedicated to the ancestral deities of the Japanese imperial family.
In Japan, a law prohibits the possession and transfer of marijuana, but cultivation of cannabis is permitted under strict conditions with prefectural permission. The prefectural government would allow production of cannabis under adequate management control if it is deemed socially and culturally important or indispensable for people’s lives. However, the prefecture said there is no precedent for such a decision.
The group of shrines applied for permission in November. It planned to cultivate a species of cannabis that contains little to no psychoactive compounds, if permitted.
The local government decision came after a guilty verdict in late December on the 37-year-old president of a company, licensed by Tottori Prefecture in western Japan to process cannabis, on suspicion of possessing marijuana.
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There are different types of cannabis plant, some of which are low in the psychoactive compound necessary for marijuana use. To learn about the use of cannabis in Japanese culture, please see here or here. For its use in Shinto, please check here. For an article on Japan’s draconian attitude towards marijuana, see here.
Shimogamo priestess with headband made of hemp
A priest holding the ‘purification wand’ – a branch of sakaki with some hemp string attached
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