CHIBUSA-ENOKI

Lore

The name Chibusa-enoki is made of two roots: chibusa, “breast,” and enoki, the Japanese hackberry. The trunk of this sacred tree bears swellings that look uncannily like a woman’s breasts. According to the best-known tale, a young mother was murdered by an envious neighbor and buried at the roots of a great enoki.

A mother’s love did not perish; soon, a faint baby’s cry was heard from the tree after dark. A local monk, guided by a dream of the mother, found a living infant reaching toward the trunk, where a milky sap dripped from the wood to sustain the child.

The crime was revealed, and the neighbor, tormented by the dead mother’s whispers, confessed and met her end. Today, the tree remains a symbol of an unyielding maternal bond, providing spiritual and physical nourishment to the vulnerable.