Sakaki: The Shinto Religion’s Sacred Flowering Evergreen

By Corinne Kennedy

Cleyera japonica in Area ZZE of the Seattle Japanese Garden. (photo: Corinne Kennedy)

Cleyera japonica, known as Japanese cleyera, is a broadleaf evergreen shrub or small tree viewed as sacred in Japan’s original Shinto religion.  Growing in woodlands and forest edges, it is native to the warmer areas of Japan, Korea, China and other countries of Southeast Asia.  In the wild, it may reach 30 feet tall, but cultivated plants are usually much smaller – about 8-10 feet tall by 5-6 feet wide.  In our Seattle Japanese Garden, two small plants remain of those originally planted here.  Located in Area ZZE, along the west side service road, they’re “hidden treasures,” unseen by visitors who remain on the paths that border the garden’s pond.

The genus word Cleyera refers to a German physician and botanist, Andreas Cleyer (1634-1697 or 1698), and the species word japonica indicates that it is native to Japan.

In Japan, Cleyera is known as sakaki.  This word originally referred to all evergreens, but it gradually came to refer only to members of the tea family (Theaceae).  Sakaki is written 榊 with a kanji character that combines ki 木 "tree; wood" and kami 神 "spirit; god" – hence its identity as a "sacred or divine tree".  Other explanations for the word’s meaning include the following:  as an evergreen, it’s an “always thriving tree” (sakaeru-ki) – or, alternatively, as a “border-tree” (sakai-ki), it’s used in Shintoism to designate sacred space.

Cleyera’s oval-shaped foliage, held alternately on the stem, resembles that of the much more common Camellia.  Both are evergreen members of the Theaceae family, with glossy, deep green, leathery foliage – and both, historically, were called sakaki.  Cleyera leaves are 3-4 inches long, and emerge bronze-green, maturing to deep green, with dull yellowish-green undersides.  The leaf stems are furrowed, but the reddish-brown bark is smooth.

Botanical illustration of Cleyera japonica in Flora Japonica, 1870. (Phillip Franz von Siebold and Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini. This image considered to be in the public domain in the U.S.)

The dainty bell-shaped flowers of Cleyera japonica. (photo: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license)

Small, fragrant, downward-facing flowers appear singly or in small clusters in late spring or early summer.  About ½-inch wide, and consisting of 5 petals, they are creamy white and bell-shaped. Small red berries, which ripen to a shiny black, develop from the dainty flowers.

Another plant in the Theaceae family, Ternstroemia gymnanthera, is often confused with Cleyera, even in the nursery trade.  One easily observed difference is in the fruit. Ternstroemia often fails to set fruit, and when it does, fruits mature from green to yellow instead of red to black.

Japanese cleyera is hardy to USDA Zone 8 (minimum temperature 10 degrees F).  It grows best in the shade of overhead trees – in fertile, moist, well-drained woodland soil.  It’s tolerant of heavy shade and urban conditions, but not of strong sun or drought.

Cleyera takes well to pruning and shaping into hedges, and it was often planted in gardens and parks.  It’s unsuitable for bonsai because of its large leaves.  The very hard wood was used to make utensils, in construction, and as a fuel. 

However, sakaki is most closely associated with Japan’s ancient Shinto religion.  Since antiquity, trees were planted at Shinto shrines and their branches used in Shinto rituals.  Formed into wands (tamagushi), which were decorated with paper streamers, they were used to make offerings to the gods.  Branches were also used as decorations, in ritual dances, and in purification rites – and were attached to shrine fences and buildings to designate sacred space.  Even in present-day Japan, small branches from florists are offered in ceremonies and at festivals & home altars.  Sometimes branches of camellias or other evergreens are substituted for those of Cleyera.

Reverend Koichi Barrish of Tsubaki Grand Shrine performing the First Viewing ceremony. (photo: Aurora Santiago)

The importance of Shintoism in our Seattle Japanese Garden is revealed each year at First Viewing, when the garden re-opens in March and an ancient Shinto blessing ceremony takes place.  In 2020, as in past years, this formal ceremony will be performed by Reverend Koichi Barrish of Tsubaki Grand Shrine in Granite Falls, Washington.

According to Shinto, Japan’s original, animistic religion, all living things are animated by spirit.  The First Viewing ceremony honors that spirit and invites auspicious ki (life energy) into the garden and the lives of its visitors.  Offerings are made to the kami (gods), present throughout the garden – in the water, the trees and plants, the animals, and the stones.  In the words of Reverend Barrish, prayers are offered that “all visitors are deeply nourished, enriched and invigorated by visiting the Seattle Japanese Garden."

This opening ceremony is usually performed on the moon viewing platform, where an altar with offerings and auspicious objects has been placed.  The reverend chants to purify the energy around him, and offers wands decorated with paper streamers to the kami.  To several guests of honor, he offers tamagushi fashioned from Camellia branches in place of Cleyera. They and all visitors are invited to offer wishes for a blessed new year in the garden.

As the March 1st re-opening of the Seattle Japanese Garden approaches, we invite you to experience the garden as renewed – and alive with the spirits of water, plants, animals and stones.

Corinne Kennedy is a Garden Guide, a frequent contributor to the Seattle Japanese Garden blog, and retired garden designer.