Kiyotake's Big Camphor

Kiyotake no Ōkusu: A 900-Year-Old Camphor Giant Watching Over Miyazaki

Tucked behind the main hall of Funabiki Shrine in the rolling countryside of Miyazaki City stands one of southern Japan's most remarkable living monuments. Known as Kiyotake no Ōkusu, this colossal camphor tree (kusunoki) has stood for roughly 900 years, its enormous twisted trunk still pushing fresh leaves toward the Kyushu sky each spring. With a root circumference of 18 meters and a height of about 35 meters, it is recognized as the largest camphor tree in Miyazaki Prefecture and was designated a National Natural Monument of Japan in 1951.

For travelers seeking a quiet, unhurried encounter with the deeper layers of Japanese spirituality and nature, few destinations are as moving as a walk around the base of this living giant.

A Tree Older Than Most of Japan's Castles

To stand beneath Kiyotake no Ōkusu is to stand beside a witness to nearly a millennium of Japanese history. Funabiki Shrine, the sanctuary that surrounds the tree, was founded in 1087, during the reign of Emperor Horikawa in the late Heian period. Local tradition holds that the camphor began growing at roughly the same time, meaning it predates the rise of the samurai class, the Mongol invasions of Kyushu, and the unification of Japan under Tokugawa rule.

The shrine was originally established as a Hachiman shrine, and the great tree behind the main hall came to be known affectionately as Hachiman-gusu, or "Hachiman's Camphor," after the deity of the sanctuary. Today the local community still uses both names interchangeably, and the tree is regarded as a sacred presence rooted in the spiritual life of the village.

Why It Was Designated a National Natural Monument

Kiyotake no Ōkusu received its designation as a National Natural Monument on June 9, 1951. The reasons go far beyond age and size, though both are extraordinary.

According to the official record, the trunk has a girth of 12.25 meters at chest height and a root circumference of 18 meters, with branches spreading 33 meters east to west and 27 meters north to south. A massive limb on the east side has long since broken away, leaving a wide opening; from there the trunk rises hollow to a height of about 8 meters, with an inner chamber large enough to hold roughly five tatami mats of floor space. Visitors can peer through a low opening on the western side and see straight into this living cave.

Two principal stems rise from a height of about 5 meters, branching again into a sweeping crown that still produces dense foliage despite the tree's age. Botanically, it is considered the finest representative of its species in the prefecture; culturally, it is a vivid example of a sacred tree that has been protected and revered by a single community across many centuries.

Highlights for Visitors

The Hollow Trunk

The most unforgettable feature of the tree is the cavernous hollow inside its main trunk. Local accounts record that during the Second World War the cavity was used as an air-raid shelter by villagers, a quietly extraordinary fact that gives the tree a layered modern history alongside its ancient one. Today a wooden boardwalk surrounds the trunk to protect the roots, allowing visitors to walk close without damaging the soil.

The Shape of the Crown

The current chief priest of Funabiki Shrine has described the tree's silhouette as resembling a great ox lying down, with the long horizontal limbs spreading outward like a resting body. From the side, the comparison is striking. Photographers and quiet contemplators alike often spend a long time simply walking around the boardwalk to see how the tree's character changes from each angle.

The Fox Legend

One of the most charming local stories tells how, during a period of financial hardship long ago, plans were made to fell the tree and sell its wood as raw material for camphor extract. On the night before the felling, a great commotion of foxes was said to have erupted around the shrine, and the alarmed villagers abandoned the plan. The tale is part of the affection in which the tree is held today.

Yakkosō, a Rare Parasitic Plant

Around the base of the great chinquapin trees on the same shrine grounds, a tiny parasitic plant called yakkosō appears in mid-November and into the New Year. Designated locally as a natural monument, it is found only in southern Kyushu, Shikoku, and Okinawa, and its delicate white-and-pink flowers make a striking contrast to the towering camphor nearby.

Funabiki Kagura

If you can plan your visit around the spring equinox or New Year's Eve, you may witness Funabiki Kagura, a sacred dance tradition designated an Intangible Folk Cultural Property by Miyazaki Prefecture. Unlike the night kagura of Takachiho, this is a daytime "spring kagura" performed to pray for a bountiful harvest, and it is performed in the very precincts watched over by the great camphor.

The Surrounding Area

The Kiyotake area, now part of Miyazaki City, is a peaceful agricultural district along the Kiyotake River with a number of cultural sites within easy reach. Within a few kilometers of Funabiki Shrine you will find the former residence of Yasui Sokken, a celebrated Confucian scholar of the late Edo period, and the Yasui Sokken Memorial Hall next door, which together form a National Historic Site introducing his life and the intellectual climate of nineteenth-century Japan. The Kiyotake History Museum nearby offers a broader introduction to the region's heritage.

For a longer day out, the coastal town of Aoshima with its famous "devil's washboard" rock formations and the historic castle town of Obi are both within easy driving distance, making the great camphor a worthwhile stop on a wider tour of southern Miyazaki.