The Camphor of Eda Shrine

By the chronicles, three of the most important gods in Japan were born a few hundred metres from this tree. Eda Shrine enshrines Izanagi and Izanami, and the ground it stands on is one of the places identified as Awakigahara, where Izanagi washed himself clean after fleeing the land of the dead. The story goes that when he washed his left eye Amaterasu came out of it, from his right eye Tsukuyomi, and from his nose Susanoo. There is still a purification pond in the woods behind the hall. The camphor is on the main approach, on the right as you face the worship hall, 5.3 metres round and 15 metres tall, and the Environment Agency puts it at 100 to 200 years, which for a camphor is young. Soil has washed away from its base and left the top of the roots exposed, and one of them carries a rounded knob that has been rubbed smooth and shiny by hands over the years. There is no signboard explaining why people touch it. Trees are petitioned for breast milk in Japan and the shrine's old local name means honoured mother, so a guess is available, and it stays a guess.