Kamakura and the old Gingko Tree...
March 10, 2010
just saw the news, it fell down this morning ...
can you believe it, a tree of more than 800 years ... is now lying there like a dead elder ...
Probably not uprooted by the snowstorm, but because the roots have been eaten up by old age and could not hold it any more.
He was always a great joy with the yellow leaves in autumn.
It looked like an old friend dead on the ground.
For more than 15 years, I used to go regularly to the the Archery Hall in Hachimangu to practise Kyudo and looking at this huge tree was always a comfort and joy.
The tree was dedignated as a natural monument of Kanagawa prefecture in 1955.
Today, March 10,
The priests and shrine maiden poored consecrated sake over the uprooted trunk, put salt on it and performed purification rituals.
I wonder what will happen to this tree now.
This is a great shock to all who love Kamakura !!
quote from mainichi.jp
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
my giant old friend
has taken a final fall ...
spring storm
quote from 47news.jp
quote from chugoku-np.co.jp
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The tree had a trunk circumference of 6.8 meters
and was about 30 meters high.
It is said to have witnessed the
assasination of Minamoto no Sanetomo
源 実朝, September 17, 1192 – February 13, 1219.
Assassination
Under heavy snow on the evening of February 12, 1219
(Jōkyū 1, 26th day of the 1st month), Sanetomo was coming down from the Senior Shrine at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū after assisting to a ceremony celebrating his nomination to Udaijin.
His nephew (the son of second shogun Minamoto no Yoriie) Kugyō (Minamoto no Yoshinari) came out from next to the stone stairway of the shrine, then suddenly attacked and assassinated him.
For his act he was himself beheaded few hours later, thus bringing the Seiwa Genji line of the Minamoto clan and their rule in Kamakura to a sudden end.
© More about Sanetomo in the WIKIPEDIA !
At the left of its stairway used to stand a 1000 year old ginkgo, but the tree was uprooted by a storm at about 4am on March 10, 2010.
© More about the shrine Hachimangu in the WIKIPEDIA !
. . . More English reference
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A 1,000-year-old giant ginkgo tree
in front of the main hall of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine here has been knocked down, apparently by strong winds.
At around 4:40 a.m. on Wednesday, a security guard at the shrine found the famous tree -- designated as a natural monument by Kanagawa Prefecture in 1955 -- knocked down with its trunk snapped.
The security guard reportedly heard a loud thumping sound, like that of "heavy covering of snow falling to the ground," about three times at around 4:15 a.m. After hearing a sound like a lightening strike, he found the tree collapsed on the ground.
The maximum wind velocity at that time was 12 meters per second, according to the Fire Fighting Head Office in Kamakura.
Chikayasu Hamano, a professor at Tokyo University of Agriculture, attributed a blizzard from late Tuesday afternoon as the main cause of the tree's collapse, in addition to heavy rain from February that softened the ground. Hamano also commented that it is impossible to save the tree.
At the end of 2009, the shrine started to consider conservation steps for the giant tree, with inspections by Hamano finding no problems with the health of the tree.
Shigeho Yoshida, the chief priest of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, is too shocked to comment on the matter, a shrine official said. Other priests, who are also in shock, made spiritual gestures by offering rice and sake to the collapsed tree.
The giant ginkgo tree, well known as a symbol of the shrine, was dubbed
"Kakure Icho" (hidden ginkgo) since monk Kugyo hid behind the tree when he assassinated Minamoto no Sanetomo, the third shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate, in January 1219.
source : mdn.mainichi.jp
. WASHOKU
BIG FONT LINK
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Photos from my friend Mark Schumacher in Kamakura
(click for enlargement)
Mark Schumacher, Kamakura
GODS of Japan, A-to-Z Photo Dictionary of Japanese Buddhism
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鶴岡八幡宮：
大銀杏、倒れる 樹齢１０００年、実朝暗殺の舞台
１０日午前４時４０分ごろ、神奈川県鎌倉市雪ノ下の鶴岡八幡宮（吉田茂穂宮司）の本殿前にある県指定天然記念物「大（おお）銀杏（いちょう）」が、根元付近から折れて倒れているのを警備員が見つけた。９日夕から続いた強風が原因とみられる。けが人はなかった。大銀杏は鎌倉幕府三代将軍、源実朝（さねとも）の暗殺事件の「隠れ銀杏」として知られる。同八幡宮関係者は「あり得ないことだ」とぼうぜんとしている。
八幡宮によると、大銀杏は幹回り６・８メートル、高さ約３０メートルで樹齢は１０００年とされる。午前４時１５分ごろ、当直の警備員が３回ほど「ドンドン」という音を聞いた。警備員は「積もった雪が落ちる音だと思った」という。その後、落雷のような音がしたため、様子を見に行くと大銀杏が倒れていた。市消防本部によると、当時の最大瞬間風速は１２メートル。
source
http://mainichi.jp/select/weathernews/news/20100310dde041040006000c.html
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Update March 13, 2010
Maybe they can revitalize the big Gingko Tree ?
Professor Hamano Chikayasu from the Tokyo University of Agriculture is working hard on the problem.
Hopefully the trunk will grow new roots if properly cared for.
According to shrine officials, the trunk will be cut off about four meters above the fracture and planted near the root remaining in the ground after removing extra branches.
source : mdn.mainichi.jp
Update March 13, 2010
大銀杏（おおいちょう The Big Gingko Tree
The trunk has now been cut at 4 meters length, the new part weighing about 17 tons.
It has been replanted about 7 meters west to its old location near the stone stairs.
Many people came visiting the re-planting efforts, which finished at 1 o'clock on the 14th of March, 2010.
source
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/region/kanto/kanagawa/100313/kng1003132128012-n1.htm
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Update April 10, 2010
The first green sprouts are showing from the roots!
Three efforts to "revive" the tree:
from the roots, which were left as it fell.
from the newly planted trunk a few meters apart from the old place.
from branch grafts being grown in a tree nursery.
source : takezo
April 10, 2010
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Update December 13, 2010
Last night I was wondering about my old friend, and whow, what a surpirze today on TV.
NHK showed a live special about Hachimangu.
They showed the suzuharai, wiping the dirt and impurities of the year in preparation for the new year.
And of course, they showed the tree.
From the roots of the old tree many young spouts are coming up !
And from the implant a few meters afar also new sprouts are coming out of the old tree trunk.
Even without roots it still has the spirit and soul and power to grow and watch over the "young one" next to its side.
They also sell a new talisman with a tiny bit of the old tree branches.
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. KAMAKURA ... a Haiku Town
Takahama Kyoshi
. . . Read my Haiku Archives 2010
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