Tree Worship in Japan.

Hokitika Guardian, 8 July 1922, Page 4

Tree Worship in Japan.

DEATH OF A SACRED PINE

Tho Tokyo correspondent of “The Times,” London, writes:— In Japan, n tree may have a personality; it. may he ail object of respect; it may even become an object of worship; or a shrine to which pilgrimages are made. Of such was the Karasaki pine, one of Japan’s most famous trees oil the shores of Lake Biwa, not far from the city of Kyoto, and associated with the life of the people, for more than a thousand years. It had come to be regarded in the light of a national treasure, since it was n link between Japan’s early civilisation and the proud Japan of world-power fame. It has recently been pronounced officially dead. The Karaski pine was so remarkable for the contortion of its branches that some fantastic spirit seemed to dwell within it. It can certainly he counted among the remarkable trees of the world. It had made a stout growth of trunk to a height of 111) feet. Thence it sent out a great circular sweep of ■ branches that stretched outwards, and swayed downward, covering in its prime an area of three acres. There were 1180 of these, in girth as thick as an ordinary pine, the heaviest propped up with poles or supported by piles of stones, leaving just room enough for one to stand beneath. According to tradition, it once flourished in tlie palace garden of an Emperor. Other accounts sav that it was on the estate of one of the priestly families that had a close connexion with the Huddhist monastery on Hieizan, the mountain height that toilers above Lake Hina. Just beside the Karaski pine there is a little shrine sacred to the memory of a lady of this ancient priestly family, but she had become so misty that most visitors to the Karaski pine worshipped the venerable tree, taking it as a symbol of longevity and prosperity. •So for bOO years this pine has been known throughout Japan; travellers have gone out of their way for one sight of it. Tn the dramas of 500 years ago, in fiction and travel sketches there is frequent mention of it, and many a poet lias taken it as his inspiration. Each summer a festival was held in honour of the tree, and thousands of lanterns were hung from its branches, the people of the towns and villages round the lake coming to enjoy a day and night of pleasure. For hundreds of years it lias afforded the youths and maidens of this lake country a meeting place on festival nights, and many a romance has begun under its wide-spreading branches. • Lake liiwa’s eight famous sights have been the theme of poets and artists, and among them “Bain on the Karasaki fine at Night” was one of the most celebrated. The sound of rain pattering on the innumerable branches of Ibis ancient pine was considered by the poets as worth a long journey to bear. Now the wind rattles the dead branches like the lionesof a giant | skeleton.

For several years it was known that the pine was dying. Scientists did their best to discover the cause ot its enfeebled condition. The limits that de- < ayod were promptly filled with cement. and overv remedy was tried to prolong ils life. The viihigers, who took so much pride in the tree, thinking il needed nourishing in its old age, spent considerable sums in feeding it with rice paste! When every trace of green life had disappeared a quaint ceremony was lield. The Governor of the Prefecture was present, also high officials of the Central Government, numbering HF>. together with Shinto ritualists. It was formally announced that the existence of the Karasaki pine Ipid conic to an cud. but at the same time one of those Shinto services so peculiar to Japan was carried out. The spirit of the pine was transferred to a successor, a lusty child of ,‘ibO years growing two miles distant on the shores of the lake. . Some one fortunately planted a seedling long ago. before the Tokugawa Slnigmiate. and to-day this successor shows unmistakable signs that it inti nils to follow its parent in the same remarkable development and tautaslb(ling of branches. It is so astonishingly like tho mother tree that it seems In have trulv received the life of * Karasaki pine. and will undoubtedly carry mi the family traditions lor tho next I'l'K) years.