Lovely morning. It was so sunny yesterday that I went to work without an umbrella. On my way back to my house after work, it suddenly started to downpour. I didn’t have an umbrella, so I put on the hood of my hoodie and ran under a big tree. It was a big cherry blossom tree, which every year is a real treat for the eyes of the passers-by, with its beautiful flowers. After the cherry blossoms fall, the tree is covered with beautiful, dazzling green leaves. What a surprise it is to run under the tree! There were so many raindrops falling on me that I couldn’t even open my eyes, but the moment I got under the tree, the beautiful leaves of the big cherry tree protected me from the raindrops.
I remembered the shrine where I used to play as a child, sheltering from the rain. I also thought about the fact that every shrine has a big tree. In shrines, the biggest tree is the sacred tree, which is the objective of the gods when they come down from heaven. Even outside of shrines, old and huge trees were believed to be inhabited by spirits, gods and other “invisible and precious things”, which were offered as offerings to protect the people of the land. These special trees came to be known as “sacred trees” and were revered as objects of worship.
I could feel the beauty and preciousness of that one tree which fills our hearts with happiness and soothes us with its beautiful cherry blossoms in spring, refreshes us with its beautiful green leaves in early summer, protects us from sudden rains and protects us from the strong sunshine in the hot summer. I could feel its beauty and preciousness. My visit made me remember that since ancient times, the Japanese have believed that gods dwell in all natural things.I spent about 10 minutes under the tree until it stopped raining, and then I made eye contact with someone who was also drenched by the rain, and we exchanged a quick hello and headed home.