H16.2cm

楠材, 一木造り

木彫 吉田安成

 (御神木の供養として, 個人蔵 , 2019)

 Camphor tree sculpture in ichiboku-zukuri style

Carved by YOSHIDA Yasumasa

 (Consecration of a salvaged branch by sculpting a Buddha statue, in private possession, 2019)

The camphor tree has been in the precincts of a shrine for hundreds of years. However, as the large branch covered the side road, Neighnbors  decided to cut off part of the branch for safety of the road.

One of them said "I want to hold a memorial service for this branch." And he took the tree to his home.

On a hot summer day 2018, we received a phone call from him asking if we could make the tree into a Buddhist statue.We went to his house to see the tree.

It was a larger and more splendid branch than we had imagined. But when we looked closely, some of it was rotten, and some knots had been inserted in unexpected places. So we had to look carefully for parts that could be used for carving.

Freshly cut lumber, especially camphor wood, stores water inside. When we cut out a section suitable for carving, water dripped from the section, as if a tree were crying.

Therefore, they were stored in a warehouse for about a year.

In the winter of 2019, it was finally time for the camphor to be reborn as a Buddha statue.

Yasumasa, a busshi (sculptor of Buddhist Statues), carefully revealed Amida Nyorai (Amitabha Tathagata) from the wood while being surrounded by the scent of camphor.

When the statue was completed, the camphor was no longer crying and shouldered a divine light as Amida Nyorai (Amitabha Tathagata).

The camphor tree was reborn as Amida Nyorai (Amitabha Tathagata) and returned to his owner.

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