Near a shrine that is at the same time 20 and 1,300 years old, is a pair of stacks joined by braided grass. What is the braided grass called?

looney_tunes

The Shinto shrine at Ise Jengu is rebuilt every 20 years, so is both 20 years old and 1300 years old. http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/indepth/featuredarticles/kie/forests/kie_forests_04.html "All the building material for the roofs, floors and ornaments of both structures comes entirely from Japanese white cypress, hinoki. The main building of the Inner Shrine is designed in a special architectural style, called shimmei-zukuri (神明造) which is prohibited for any other shrines. Its simple rectangular design is said to derive from the granaries and treasure storehouses of prehistoric Japan. The design of Ise Shrine precedes the introduction of Buddhism and Chinese influence on architecture, so that it offers an intriguing example of indigenous Japanese architecture before it was superseded by these more recent influences. The buildings are made of natural wood, with the distinctive roof beams consisting of the Chigi, which rest on free-standing columns at either gabled end and protrude like horns over the ridge of the roof; and the Katsuogi, short logs laid horizontally across the ridge of the roof. Overall, the style is somewhat reminiscent of Polynesian architecture. The Ise Shrine has a national treasure in its possession. Purportedly the home of the Sacred Mirror, the shrine is regarded as Shinto's holiest and most important site. Access to both sites is strictly limited, with the common public allowed to see little more than the thatched roofs of the central structures, hidden behind three tall wooden fences." http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Ise_Shrine Nov 01 08, 1:14 AM

wajo	The braided grass (rice straw) is called shimenawa. The 'pair of stacks' is the Meoto-iwa or husband and wife rocks not far from Ise shrine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meoto_Iwa Nov 01 08, 6:53 AM

edmund80

Yes, the Meoto-iwa are a pair of stacks (geological term for a large vertical column of rock in the sea) near the Ise Shrine which as Anne explained is both 20 and 1,300 years old. The stacks, also known as Husband and Wife Rocks are joined by rice (type of grass) straw ropes called shimenawa. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimenawa http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Izumooyashiro89.JPG http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Meoto_Iwa.jpg Nov 01 08, 2:11 PM