Ground Breaking Ceremony for the Construction Work of the “Office in the Forest”
Held with the Presence of Rev. and Mrs. Masanobu Taniguchi
On April 11, a ground breaking ceremony was held at the site of the “Office in the Forest” in Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture for the construction work of the “Office in the Forest” and the “Media Center” located about 200 meters south of it (which will house the Publishing and Public Affairs Department). Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi, President of Seicho-No-Ie; and Mrs. Junko Taniguchi, President of the Seicho-No-Ie White Dove Association, were present at the ceremony.
Prior to this, on January 19 of last year, a ground breaking ceremony was held at the site of the “Office in the Forest” for the ground clearing work. The ground clearing work proceeded smoothly and the foundation work for a part of the building began from March of this year.
The day of the ground breaking ceremony was rainy from the morning. The rain gradually became stronger as if to purify the site.
In attendance at the ceremony were, from Seicho-No-Ie, the benefactor of the ceremony, Rev. and Mrs. Masanobu Taniguchi; Rev. Kazutomi Otsuka, Chief of Seicho-No-Ie Missionary Council; Rev. Kazuo Isobe, Chairman and CEO of Seicho-No-Ie; and Seicho-No-Ie Missionary Councilors and officers concerned with the project; and those from the construction company, Shimizu Corporation, the real estate company, consulting company, and representatives of local residents. The number of attendees totaled 36.
Led by the priest from the local shrine, Hemi Shrine, the ceremony started at 11:00 a.m. Amid a solemn atmosphere the ceremony began with purification, the deity’s descending, offerings, the reading of supplication and the cut-paper-and-rice-sprinkling purification.
At 11:20 a.m. the ceremony proceeded to the main event, the ground breaking ceremony.
On behalf of the benefactor, Seicho-No-Ie, the “Imikuwa” (purified hoe) rite was conducted by Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi, President of Seicho-No-Ie. Rev. Taniguchi held the ceremony tool, a wooden hoe, called out “Ei” three times and broke ground in the heap of sand located near the altar.
It was followed by “Imisuki” (purified hoe) rite by the officer of the Shimizu Corporation. He held the wooden hoe, while calling out “Ei” three times and placing the hoe into the heap of the sand.
This was followed by the offering of a sacred branch by the head priest. Rev. and Mrs. Masanobu Taniguchi next offered sacred branches. This was followed by the offering of sacred branches by representatives of local residents, design consultant company and the construction company. Other attendees joined in the worship with their representatives and prayed for the safety and success of the construction work.
After the removal of the offerings and the deity ascending rite, the priest retired from the site and the ground breaking ceremony ended at 11:35 a.m.
The construction of the “Office in the Forest” is attracting wide attention in Yamanashi Prefecture. The ground breaking ceremony was broadcast on the same day on Yamanashi Television. It was also introduced in the April 12 and 13 issues of the Nikkan Kensetsu Kogyo Shimbun (Nikkan Construction Industry Newspaper) and Yamanashi Kensetsu Shimbun (Yamanashi Construction Newspaper). The construction work will continue until March of next year.