Camphor Trees at Yusuhara Hachiman Shrine

A Tree Older Than Recorded History in Japan

The Great Camphor (Cinnamomum camphora) of Yusuhara Hachimangu rises beside the long stone approach to the shrine, just before the celebrated Minami Daimon gate. The tree stands approximately 30 meters tall, with a root circumference of about 34 meters and a trunk girth of roughly 19 meters measured two meters above the ground. Inside, a vast hollow some 8.5 meters by 11 meters has formed naturally over the millennia, large enough that visitors of earlier eras described it as a chamber capable of holding more than a dozen people at once.

If the local tradition that this tree is over 3,000 years old is correct, it would have been a young sapling long before Japan's first permanent capital was established at Nara in 710. The famed cartographer Ino Tadataka, who created the first accurate map of Japan, recorded the tree in his travel journal during his survey expedition on January 27, 1811, noting the immense circumference of "the great camphor in the precincts of Yuhara Hachimangu Shrine." Even two centuries ago, it was already a marvel.

Why It Was Designated a National Natural Monument

On March 8, 1922, the Great Camphor was designated a National Natural Monument by the Japanese government, recognizing it as one of the most outstanding examples of its species in the country. The official survey report compiled at the time of designation described the tree as "a representative giant of the camphor species (Cinnamomum camphora Nees et Eberm.)," noting how its immense southern trunk sends out vast branches at a height of about 3.6 meters above the sloping ground.

What makes this tree exceptional is not merely its size, but its remarkable preservation within a continuously sacred forest. In a 1989 nationwide survey of giant trees conducted by the Environment Agency, the Great Camphor of Yusuhara Hachimangu was ranked as the seventh largest tree in all of Japan. Surrounded by the protected primeval forest of Yusuhara, which has been kept as a "no-entry sacred grove" for more than a thousand years, this tree has survived where countless others were lost to logging, agriculture, and urbanization.

Highlights for Visitors

Around the Shrine

Yusuhara Hachimangu sits at the foot of Mount Futaba in western Oita City, surrounded by walking trails through the protected forest. Visitors with extra time can continue into central Oita to explore the city's other historic sites, including the ruins of Funai Castle and the Otomo Sorin clan's former domain. The hot spring resort town of Beppu, world-famous for its eight "hells" of steaming geothermal pools, lies just a short train ride to the north and makes an excellent overnight base for travelers exploring this region of Kyushu.

For nature lovers, the Yusuhara forest itself rewards slow exploration. Quiet walks beneath the canopy reveal mossy stones, ferns, wild orchids, and seasonal flowers. Wild rabbits, badgers, and many bird species inhabit the woods, and in autumn the leaves of maples and other deciduous species set the forest aglow.