The Tree

This is what I saw today on my way to …. Xmas day. Please stay well. Love dad.

Tree species: Machilus thunbergii (burdock)

Machilus thunbergii (Lauraceae)

Tree height: about 7m

Eye distance: approx. 6.8m

Spread of branches: Approximately 11.5 m from north to south

Approximately 10.8m east to west

Age: Approximately 800 years

Location: 9-chome Chiyogaoka, Asao-ku

[About Tabnoki]

This tall evergreen tree is found in Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu and is often seen along the coast.

It is commonly found in relatively warm regions, and it is extremely rare for it to grow this large in mountainous areas, making it a very valuable tree in Kawasaki City.

● Machilus thunbergii (Kawasaki City Town Tree)

The thunbergia thunbergii is a representative evergreen broad-leaved forest and has long been known and familiar to the local people as "Okusu."

The tsumama tree in the poem by Otomo no Yakamochi in the Manyoshu, "Looking at the tsumama tree on the shore, I see its roots spreading out, and it has become a sacred tree deep in years," is believed to be the Tabunoki tree.

This tree, known as Kusunoki Masashige, is said to be 800 years old and was originally located in this spot about 500 years ago, when the family of the owner's ancestor, Kusunoki Masashige, was chased away by the Ashikaga shogunate and moved there.

It is said that the Uemura clan (who changed their name from Kusunoki to Naramura when they served Tokugawa Ieyasu as direct retainers of the Tokugawa shogunate) who constructed the Dainichi Nyorai memorial service at the nearby Korin-ji Temple, used this tree as a landmark for the Kusunoki clan.

This tree endured a long period of wind and snow, with its branches and trunk repeatedly bending and its thick trunks stretching out to the left and right. During the Taisho era, it grew to a height of 30 meters and resembled a forest, but during the war, the trunks were cut down for air defense purposes.

The wound caused by the felling has healed by itself thanks to its tenacious life force, and the tree continues to grow strong as a symbol of the region.

Sprouts

●This tree has been designated as a "town tree" by the kindness of the owner (resident). When you visit, you can climb to the base of the tree,

Please be careful not to cause inconvenience to residents by entering the premises without permission, etc.

●We ask for your understanding and cooperation in preserving our precious trees.

(For inquiries regarding "Town Trees," please contact the Greenery Department, Greenery Policy Division, Environment Bureau, Kawasaki City, TEL 200-2381