Twin gateway cryptomeria.
On either side of the staircase leading up the hillside to Fudouin, are these two massive cryptomeria. I know nothing much about them, other than that they are very big. (shrug)
From the front gate.
I try to show you my Japan. Won’t you show us your Japan?
... it's so round.
I'll protect you.
If one parks at the Hanamaya Densetsu shop near the Horinouchi intersection, one can see a sign for a Kannon, and, following the path, it is not long until one is face to face with the Giant Quercus Sessilifolia.
Number: 55
Name: Giant Quercus Sessilifolia of Horinouchi (堀之内のツクバネガシ)
Type: Evergreen Oak (Quercus Sessilifolia)
Height: 14m
Trunk Circumference: 7.2m
Age: 500 years
Location: 栃木県大田原市堀之内 (36° 52′ 35″N 140° 07′ 42″E)
Date of Visit: 2011-5-21
This sign, on the right as you pass away from Horinouchi intersection, is the landmark you must look for. Just before reaching this, there is an electric repair shop with a lovely lady who let me park there and then showed me to the tree.
On the left bank of the Naka River, in Horinouchi district of old Kurobane Town (now part of Otawara City), there is the Iwaya Kannon. On the path leading to the Iwaya Kannon, one stumbles across this Giant Quercus Sessilifolia. However, though it is on the path to the Iwaya Kannon, this tree actually belongs to the Horinouchi Neighbourhood Council, and not the Kannon temple.
When one approaches from the bottom, the tree looks like any tree might when it reaches this tree’s advanced years. There is no hint of that which lies on the other side.
Several people can fit into the gap in the trunk. In fact, the gap is so large it's difficult to believe any heartwood remained to keep the tree alive. And yet my eyes tell me there must have been plenty.
No one knows how many years ago this tree was struck by lightning, but it must have been a very powerful strike for there is now a massive gap in the backside of the tree, big enough for several people to stand within. But despite this terrible trauma, the tree continued to grow and continues to thrive to this day.
And here, with the 9th tree, ends my adventure of May 21, 2011. But this is not the end of my giant tree adventures. There are still many more trees to visit!
Maybe, this is the biggest quercus sessilifolia in all of Tochigi. It is not a common tree even at the best of times — in English it has no common name, unless you want to be insufficiently specific and call it an oak, as all members of quercus may be called. Nevertheless, this tree is made all the more uncommon by its age, its size, and the tremendous void within it.
I try to show you my Japan. Won’t you show us your Japan?
That attachment, too, must be broken.
Hoe the weeds from your soul.
Hidden away up two flights of stone steps, away from the road, one finds the Giant Cryptomeria of Onsen Shrine.
Number: 57
Name: Giant Cryptomeria of Onsen Shrine (温泉神社のスギ)
Type: Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica)
Height: 33m
Trunk Circumference: 5.4m
Age: 200~299 years
Location: 栃木県大田原市中野内 (36° 54′ 28″N 140° 08′ 46″E)
Date of Visit: 2011-5-21
In the district of Nakanouchi, to the west of prefectural road 27 linking Kuroiso, Kurobane and Motegi, one can find Onsen Shrine. It is popularly called Oomiya. A local bridge is also called Oomiya Bridge.
There's lots of steps. What will I find up here?
In official records, this shrine’s date of establishment is unknown, what is known is that in the 2nd year of Daiji (1127 CE), Sudougon’nokami Sadanobu (須藤権守貞信) (what a friggin’ name, I have to say) built the main shrine building, and after that, it was home to the guardian deity of the Nasu Clan, which lived in these parts at that time. In more recent times, the Oseki Clan, traditional lords of Kurohane-han, now Otawara City, gave 50 koku to the shrine district (社領, that is, the region in which a particular shrine or temple was able to tax, administer justice, and so on). At times of festival, the daimyo is said to have often visited this shrine, so one can imagine that this place was a big deal in the past.
More steps, that's what I found!
Opening off of the prefectural road, and heading up two flights of stone stairs, this tree is located just below the main hall on the right-hand side. It’s a beautiful cryptomeria with beautiful bark texture.
A perfect specimen of a tree.
I'd love to stay, but it will be dark very soon, and I have one more tree to visit. I'll definitely return here though.
Ah, back to Road 27, and off to the final leg of today's trip.
I try to show you my Japan. Won’t you show me your Japan?
He's mute, you know. We've cut out his tongue.
This is an illusion. It all is. Cut your ties.
At the end of a long tree-lined path, just before the shrine, we reach the Giant Ginkgo of Oonomuro.
Number: 58
Name: Giant Ginkgo of Oonomuro (大野室のイチョウ)
Type: Ginkgo/Maidenhair Tree (Ginkgo biloba)
Height: 30m
Trunk Circumference: 6.5m
Age: >300 years
Location: 栃木県大田原市寒井大野室 (36° 55′ 19″N 140° 06′ 34″E)
Date of Visit: 2011-5-21
On the right bank of the Naka River, not so far from prefectural road 34 which connects Kuroiso with Kurobane, one can find Mishima Shrine. In the long, perfectly straight avenue of cryptomeria leading to the shrine, slightly out of place, is this single Giant Ginkgo.
The cryptomeria-lined avenue leads to the ginkgo, and to Mishima Shrine.
This ginkgo is considerably older than the cryptomeria that line the approach to the shrine. One can imagine that once upon a time, the scenery of the approach was quite different than it is today.
This information board was erected in August 1995.
Nearby, a handwritten information board made from a slice of another giant tree can be seen. According to that sign, the shrine was established in the 2nd year of the Daidou Era (so, 807 CE). At first, Yakushinyorai (薬師如来, Bhaisajyaguru, the buddha who is able to cure all ills) was enshrined here, where he was called Wise God Mishima.
A chain fence discourages people from approaching too closely.
As for the ginkgo, it is written that people used to pray here for troubles with breastfeeding, but there seems to be no explanation beyond that.
It was approaching 5pm on a mid-May day. Daylight was starting to fade, but I still had two more giant trees to find that day. Must keep moving.
I try to show you my Japan. Won’t you show us your Japan?
