Goshinboku

"Fate is a continuous cycle."

- Goshinboku

The, also known as the , was where Kikyō first sealed Inuyasha in the feudal era with her arrow at the brink of her demise. It also played an important role with another ancient tree of the same name when Inuyasha had to defeat the son of the Hyōga clan in the first movie.

It is ultimately known to be a sentient being with a mind and will all its own, having revealed its very essence in the spin-off.

Zero referred to it as "an impossible entity surpassing time" in the prophecy that the Shikon Jewel had foretold about Kirinmaru's inevitable downfall at the hands of the late Tōga's granddaughters.

History
The hanyō Naraku used his powers of disguise to pit Inuyasha and Kikyō against each other in order to fill the Shikon no Tama with evil from their hatred. His actions mortally wounded Kikyō. Immediately after Inuyasha stole the jewel, Kikyō sealed him to the Sacred Tree by shooting her arrow at his heart while passing through the tree. Since then, Inuyasha has remained bound to the tree without ever aging. The villagers always guard the area where he slept and even called the area "Inuyasha's Forest."

Modern Era
The Sacred Tree continued to remain for 500 years and was located at Higurashi shrine. It contained a massive groove in it from Inuyasha's seal. Kikyō's reincarnation, Kagome Higurashi, accidentally traveled to the feudal era through the Bone-Eater's Well and arrived 50 years after Inuyasha was first sealed. She freed him from the tree after Mistress Centipede attacked the nearby village in order to possess the Shikon no Tama.

Affections Touching Across Time
When Menōmaru uses the Tree of Ages to steal the souls of all living beings in the region, the Sacred Tree is affected as well. It seals up the Bone-Eater's Well with its roots and trapped Kagome in her own time after Kikyō forced her back down the well. Kagome was able to communicate with Inuyasha (who was still in the feudal era) by using the power of the Sacred Tree to transcend through time. Using an arrow head was lodged in in the tree from Inuyasha's initial seal, Kagome was able to destroy the roots that blocked up the well, and was able to travel through it once again. The tree returned to normal after Menōmaru was destroyed.

Hanyō no Yashahime
After the yōkai Ne no Kubi was defeated by Inuyasha, it had managed to attach its last remaining root onto the Tree of Ages and would send Sesshōmaru's daughter Towa into the modern era over four years later. A decade following that incident, Setsuna, Moroha, and Mistress Three-Eyes were also transported to the modern era through the tree due to Ne no Kubi wanting to obtain the Rainbow Pearls that were in their possessions.

When Towa decided to go back to the feudal era with Setsuna and Moroha, they were confronted by the spirit of the Sacred Tree (who had taken the form of Kikyō due to her essence having been imbued with it after she used her Sacred Arrow to imprison Inuyasha). It asked the three of them to kill a powerful daiyōkai named Kirinmaru, as well as Sesshōmaru, by claiming that each of their existences being a threat to the world. Towa and Setsuna, however, refused the tree's request, and they, as well as Moroha, were subsequently sent to face Ne no Kubi as a result of their refusal. Towa and the others managed to kill Ne no Kubi, thus ridding the tree of it for good. Soon afterwards, the spirit of the tree was watching over Rin (who was placed in suspended animation) with the Dream Butterfly flying overhead, and was suddenly approached by Sesshōmaru. It warned him that Rin would never awaken if he decided to forsake her, to which Sesshōmaru said nothing and left.

Many months later, Moroha tries to get her to emerge before her and her twin cousins, as they have just encountered and fought Kirinmaru per her request, but remains silent. A few weeks later, Sesshōmaru and his vassel Jaken can pass through the tree to the other reality inside the tree as Rin awakens from her enchanted sleep, most likely due to the demise of Zero by Setsuna, Rin was choking that she casted a by spell by Zero, because of this, they are connected, and resurrected her by Sesshōmaru's Tenseiga and continues to an enchanted sleep. After that and while Rin's asleep, she's crying that what's going to happen to her daughter Setsuna at the ruin of Izayoi's mansion as Jaken surprised her.

Powers & Abilities
The Sacred Tree brings a special connection between memories of the past and present. And serves somewhat a telepathic connection between the sengoku period and the present when Kagome and Inuyasha converse with each other. Its wood was also used to make the Bone-Eater's Well (seeing that if one Tree of Ages fails in survival, the Bone Eater's Well is sealed and thus the present would be plunged in an everlasting winter).

Those who are sealed to or within the tree have their time stopped and are plunged into a slumber. Inuyasha remained unaged for 50 years (not due to his demon heritage), while Rin appears to be the same as she was at 15, shortly after having Towa and Setsuna.

Manga vs. Anime
In the manga, the Goshinboku is stated to be 500 years old in the modern era. In the anime, it is stated to be 1,000 years old by then.

In Episode 48, it is revealed that Kagome and Sōta's father proposed to their mother in front of the Sacred Tree, which cleared their minds of any doubts they had earlier.

Trivia

 * In, a "Shinboku' was a tree that acted as a symbol for land that was considered sacred. It was also a place that was believed to contain the presence of a deity. It was common practice in ancient times to worship nature as sacred. A shrine could also be built around it, and in some cases, it would have been built using the tree's timber.
 * In Episode 147, Kikyō and Kaede are seen practicing their archery on the tree, despite it being sacred and spiritual, just like their innate spiritual powers as priestesses.
 * The tree appears to grow response to a seal placed on it, as it's roots grew over Inuyasha and the arrow pinning him to its trunk.