What is the oldest tree in Iga?
Iga's mapped tree is Takakura Jinja no Shibunashigaya, a Japanese nutmeg-yew of the rare shibunashi variety, in the grounds of Takakura Shrine. No age has been published for it in any source found; it is documented instead by its rarity, its 3.05-metre girth and its National Natural Monument status since 25 July 1932.
Shibunashigaya means kaya without the astringency: an ordinary Japanese nutmeg-yew produces seeds wrapped in a bitter skin, and this rare variety's kernels can be eaten straight off the tree. Edo-period locals called them bee-larva kaya and white-rice kaya and sent them to their feudal lords. Only two or three such nationally designated trees exist anywhere in Japan, and a third was struck from the register after it died, which makes this one of the rarer designated trees this site maps. The trunk runs to about 21 metres, forking into two main limbs around two metres up, each splitting again roughly ten metres higher into six branches on the west side, where decay shows, and five on the east. Girth at chest height is 3.05 metres; a smaller figure recorded at the base in the same source is treated as a transcription error rather than a fact about the tree, since a base is normally wider than the chest. Takakura Shrine leaves the tree deliberately unsignposted, a precaution from the era when its valuable seeds attracted attention, so finding it among the shrine's other trees takes patience. Nothing blocks entry to the grounds, and no ticket is needed.
See more themed collections of remarkable trees.