The Konohana tree (「木花」?; Ko no hana; lit. "flower tree"[1][2]), is a divine tree in Kamiki Village. It houses the wood sprite Sakuya and is a guardian deity of Kamiki Village. It draws its power from Guardian Saplings and its wellbeing affects Sakuya.
Description[]
Konohana is a gigantic sakura tree standing atop a hill at Kamiki Village. The tree has many branches of varying sizes, and most noticeably, the highest branch is curved, forming the tree's signature top. Konohana has a massive base, tied with a very large shimenawa, under which are many roots, the visible sections has already crawled all over the hilltop that it stands on. The roots are also very long, stretching across Nippon to form all the Guardian Saplings, which are the tree's offshoots. Beneath Konohana is an empty space containing the statues of Nagi and Shiranui, and at the far back of this space is the gateway to the River of the Heavens, but the supernatural gate is only visible to those who has a devout belief in the gods.
Story[]
Ōkami[]
In the beginning of Ōkami, the tree temporarily disappeared because of Orochi's curse. However, it was summoned when Sakuya asked Amaterasu to cut down the fruit hanging on the tree, which would restore Kamiki Village and the villagers. After Amaterasu restored the village, the tree remained, albeit either dead or barely alive.
When Amaterasu and Susano got rid of the boulder blocking the entrance of Kamiki Village, Sakuya appeared and asked Amaterasu to bloom the Guardian Saplings around Nippon. She said that she "doesn't have the strength to make a flower bloom" and suddenly grew tired. Until Shinshu Field's Guardian Sapling is bloomed, Konohana remained barred. With the nearby area's Guardian Sapling's restration, Konohana was affected, which grew taller and sprouted leaves around its branches. After exploring Shinshu Field, Amaterasu returned to Kamiki and discovered that Mr. Orange had been trying to restore Konohana, but only after all the sakura in the village had bloomed. She then helped Mr. Orange in reviving the tree and Sakuya. After this event, Konohana is restored to its former self as a tall tree in full bloom, encircled by a spiraling cloud.
Konohana did not have any storyline importance after this point. However, whenever Amaterasu restored other saplings, Konohana would grew a fruit that contained a treasure. Amaterasu could go to Konohana whenever she wanted to obtain the treasures. One of them were especially valuable, containing a Silver Pocket Watch upon the restoration of Kamui's Guardian Sapling.
Ōkamiden[]
In the beginning of Ōkamiden, Konohana was struck by lightning (by a Spark Beast[3]) and split in two, thus Chibiterasu has to rejuvenate it.
Gallery[]
