Hemp Stalk Uses

Woody cores of hemp stalks remaining after the fibrous bark is peeled away find many uses. A common traditional use in hemp growing regions was as a strong support for roof construction. Peeled stalks are lashed with hemp rope to the roof joists in a thick layer to support the rice straw and reed roofing above.

Omachi shrine, Nagano prefecture.

Nakamura Family Residence Museum in Miasa (Beautiful Hemp) village of Nagano Prefecture.

Peeled hemp stalks serve not only such practical functions as roofing,

they also fulfill more spiritual roles.

The woody stalks remaining after the bark is peeled away are dried and saved for ogara (麻幹) used to call the ancestor spirits during the annual Obon festival.

Print by Kawanabe Kyōsai 1917.

During traditional summer Obon festivals to honor ancestral spirits worshippers burned large bundles of ogara peeled hemp stalks to entice the spirits to visit.

Traditional families today burn bits of ogara hemp stalk charcoal at the

kamidana (神棚, literally 'spirit-shelf') home altar during Obon celebrations to beckon their ancestor's spirits.