motor-car is available to the temple. 
Consisting of four large trunks branching at the 
base of the stump and stretching their branches in all 
directions, the tree is a rare specimen of its kind. The 
circumference of its trunk at the foot measures about 
40 feet. Its flowers are snow-white, and its flower-- 
stalks are somewhat hairy. Around the root of the tree 
there are about ten stone tablets on the ground. Some of 
these have been embraced by the trunks and have become 
part of the tree as it has grown up through many 
centuries. The oldest of the tablets bears an inscription 
reading ‘“‘ second year of the Joei era,” which corresponds 
to 1233 of the Christian era. From the inscription it 
is surmised that the tablet was placed here at this early 
period (the Kamakura period). A minute description 
of these stone tablets appears in the “ Gendo Hogen’” 
written by Takizawa Bakin (1767—1849), which also 
contains their picture, sketched by Watanabe Kwazan, a 
noted painter of the Tokugawa period. This cherry 
tree is in full bloom about the middle of April. 
Besides the above-mentioned giant trees, there is 
at Odo, Nagaoka village, Ibaraki Prefecture, a noted 
cherry tree known as “ Odo-no-sakura.”’ 
The place is near the city of Mito, and can be 
reached in a short time from that city by motor-car. 
The tree is a gigantic specimen of the white mountain 
cherry, measuring about 31 feet in girth at breast 
height. The blooming season is about April 2oth. 
In Maruyama Park, Kyoto, there is a famous cherry 
tree. It is an aged weeping cherry, which bears white 
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