Kinukake no Mori, the Robe Camphor

300 to 2,000 years, sources disagree sharplyCamphor Treepin approximate

Kinukake no Mori, the Robe Camphor
Photo: Asturio Cantabrio, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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Twenty metres around. That is nearly double the largest tree in the city of Fukuoka, and it makes this camphor one of the great trees of Japan by measurement alone, whatever anyone decides about its age. The estimates for that run from three hundred years to two thousand, a disagreement so wide it is really an admission that nobody knows. The name means the hanging of the robe: Empress Jingu, having given birth beside its neighbour a hundred metres away, is said to have hung the birth robe on this tree. A custom still runs on it. Expectant women take one of the smooth stones kept at the shrine home with them, and after a safe birth they bring back two, so the pile grows with every delivery. The tree carries its centuries openly, the upper trunk gone and a large rough cavity opening in the side, and it was still in full leaf when photographed in September 2024. Both it and its neighbour became national natural monuments on the same day in March 1922.

The tree's year
now JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

small cream flowers, and the crushed leaf smells of camphorFruit

The line is the tree in leaf, so the dip is winter. Typical for this species where this tree stands; exact weeks shift with the year.

The buttons above open directions and collecting. About 45 min from Hakata: JR to Kashii, then the Kashii line to Umi terminus, then 9 min walk

The pin marks the right spot roughly, not the tree itself. It stands here, but we have not confirmed the precise position on the ground yet. Know exactly where it is?

Species
Camphor Tree (Cinnamomum camphora)
Age estimate
300 to 2,000 years, sources disagree sharply
Location
Umi Hachimangu, 1-1-1 Umi, Umi town, Kasuya district 811-2101 (Umi town, about 45 min from Hakata)
Access
Free, open shrine precinct
Getting there
About 45 min from Hakata: JR to Kashii, then the Kashii line to Umi terminus, then 9 min walk

Trees nearby

Yubuta no Mori, the Bathing Camphor1,000 to 2,000 years, sources disagree · 60 m awayThe Broad-leaf Ehretia of Dazaifuabout 700 years · 5.9 km awayThe Flying Plum of Dazaifu Tenmangutraditionally over 1,000 years · 6.0 km away
Curious what else is standing in Fukuoka? See all 11 remarkable ancient trees in Fukuoka or find out what the oldest tree in Fukuoka is. It is a Camphor Tree; see every camphor tree on the site.
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This page was researched from a distance. If you know this tree, you know things we do not.

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