In Shinto practice, chinju no mori refers to the sacred grove or forest associated with and surrounding a shrine.
The phrase literally means the forest of a tutelary deity. Such groves preserve a natural setting for the shrine and can include old trees, streams, rocks, and other features treated as spiritually significant. They are important examples of how Shinto sacred space may be organized around nature rather than only around a building.
A chinju no mori is not simply any woodland near a shrine. The term emphasizes a protected relationship with the shrine’s local guardian kami. It also differs from shinboku, a sacred tree, and jinja, the general Japanese word for a Shinto shrine. Urban development has reduced or fragmented many traditional shrine groves.