クスノキのような常緑樹は一年中青々としているが、季節の変化は全くないわけではない。３月末、新しい葉が出てくると同時に古い葉の一部が枝から落ちる。新緑は赤色を帯びて、古い葉も紅葉してから落ちる。他の照葉樹もクスノキ同様に、春から初夏にかけて葉を入れ替える。この時期で行う落ち葉のかけ集める作業は、秋にも負けないほど大変！小さな白い花 は田植えの頃から咲き、秋には黒い果実が熟する。ベリーは表面のツヤツヤがとても綺麗、中には一個の堅い、真ん丸の種子が入っている。
北総地域では街路や公園にクスノキとよく出会う。立派な木が多いが、それでもまだ若い個体が多い。また、木があまり大きくなると問題にされるため、かなり厳しく刈り込んでいる。ぼくはどうしてもトトロクラスの大型木霊が住めるようなクスノキ出会いたいと思っていたが、やはり街路や公園よりも、神社やお寺で探した方が良いと考える。社寺林は神仏にとって聖なる森と見なされ、樹木は手厚く守られているから。
木に宿る妖精が日本の伝承文化によく描かれている。ジブリのアニメの世界にも、トトロだけではなく、「もののけ姫」にも可愛いい「木霊」が登場する。この作品のラストシーンでは、照葉樹林の原生林である「シシ神の森」が全滅になるが、一柱の木霊が生き残る。このシーンの意味として、日本の原生林が伐採されても、そこに宿っていた妖精の一部は、社寺林などの巨木に棲み移って現在まで生き残っていると、ぼくは勝手に捉えている。もちろん、宮崎駿監督がその意味を込めていたかどうか分からない。
トトロクラスのクスノキを求めて、ぼくはまず千葉ニュータウンをベースに、各地区の鎮守社をサイクリングで巡り、巨木や老木を調べ始めた。北総地域では、昔の「村」の単位で小さな鎮守社（地元で「村社」や「氏神様」とも呼ぶ）を祀っていた。昔の村の行政は現在、市に合併されているが、その鎮守社の大部分は今でも残り、地元の人たちに大切に守られている。そして、ほとんどの鎮守社は巨木を含む鎮守の森に囲まれていて、巨木や老木を探るのに絶好のフィールドとなっている。
大きなクスノキは案外早く見つかった。場所は千葉ニュータウン中央駅よりわずか２kmちょっとの距離に鎮座する小倉地区の鳥見神社。社そのものは素朴なのに、巨大なクスノキがその脇にそびえ立っていて、社を囲む鎮守の森も広くて立派。巨大クスノキの他、スギ、シラカシ、スダジイとケヤキの大木も生えており、隣の草原から拝見する姿がお見事だ。
樹木の大きさの目安として、地上約１５０ｃｍの高さで幹の周囲を測る。このクスノキの周囲は４００ｃｍ前後、神社のご神木としても太い方。また、幹が真っ直ぐに高く伸び、枝を横に広げて、林冠の中で自分だけの広い専用スペースを確保している。しかし、この立派な木でさえ、トトロのような大型木霊の住まいとしてはまだまだ若い。トトロが気に入ってくれるまでには、あとは５～６００年がかかるだろう。
Many of the kusunoki planted as street and park trees around Chiba New Town have grown to substantial size. But I wanted to meet a tree that could comfortably serve as a home for Totoro and other kodama spirits. The best spots to look for these huge old trees are in the sacred groves that often surround Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples.
In Japan, each village traditionally maintained a small tutelary Shinto shrine, called a chinjusha or ujigamisha, housing a kami deity that protected and nourished that particular area. The administrative villages themselves have since been incorporated into larger municipalities, but most farming communities still faithfully maintain their traditional shrines. In the Hokuso region almost all the chinjusha shrines are surrounded by a sacred grove, in which cutting down trees is forbidden. These small local shrines are thus ideal spots to look for the kind of huge old trees that Totoro might be interested in.
Since ancient times the Japanese people have believed that huge old trees are inhabited and enlivened by kodama spirits. These spirits can even leave the tree and assume various forms. Lafcadio Hearn, the indefatigable late 19th and early 20th century folklorist, collected the story of Aoyagi, a willow tree kodama who transformed into a beautiful girl and married a samurai.
In addition to Totoro, cute little bubbleneck kodama enliven the Shishigami Forest in ‘Princess Mononoke’, as well. In the last scene of the movie, the Shishigami Forest, which is portrayed as an old growth shoyojurin forest, is wiped out, but one little kodama survives the disaster. I like to think that this scene portrays how some nature spirits from Japan’s destroyed old growth forests survive and eventually take up residence at sacred groves and other sacred spots in the mountains and countryside. This idea of course, is just my private musing. There is no evidence whatsoever that director Miyazaki Hayao intended such a meaning.
As a genuine 1960s original hippie and old-school Celtic Christian mystic, I am overjoyed to find that the Japanese have somehow managed to modernize while maintaining at least some elements of their traditional outlooks on the natural world. Sadly, much of the traditional European nature-related belief systems were fragmented by often violent pressure from religious zealots and the church organization.
Using Chiba New Town as a base, I began visiting the local village chinjusha and checking out the big trees and forest communities preserved in their sacred groves. It didn’t take me long at all to locate a huge kusunoki, at a Torimi Jinja shrine just 2.3 km north of Chiba New Town Station. The shrine buildings themselves are small, and simple wooden structures, but the sacred grove surrounding them is truly magnificent.
In addition to the massive kusunoki, the sacred grove boasts dozens of tall trees, including cryptomeria, ring-cupped oaks, chinkapins and zelkovas. In addition, at least some sections of the grove appear to support a unique type of shoyojurin forest community, which botanists believe is close in structure and composition to the region’s original old-growth forest.
One simple estimate of a tree’s size and age is the girth of the trunk measured at chest height (about 150cm) above the ground. The kusunoki here measured out at around 400 cm, compared to about 140cm for the trees at the shopping mall. Having to compete with adjacent trees for access to light, the shrine kusu has grown tall and now spreads its branches out to monopolize a substantial portion of the sacred grove canopy.
This shrine kusu is undoubtedly an impressive tree. I wouldn’t claim to definitely detect a spiritual presence, but just standing alongside the thick trunk engenders a feeling of respect and humility. Totoro would certainly appreciate the tree; but would most likely want something a bit older and more spacious for himself. “I’ll come back and check you out again in about 500 years or so,” he would say, careful not to discourage the tree or hurt its feelings.
