There are strange things in Kitayama, the northern mountains of Kyoto. Of them, the forest of naturally layered cryptomeras of Katanami (片波伏条台杉群) I some times write about and the Triplet cryptomerias of Daihizan (大悲山の三本杉) are my favorite places. Walking amongst the gigantic trees deformed by the heavy snow repeating for years, and just standing in front of the the mountain temple’s magnificent sacred trees  gravely protected for long time, I feel so good and refreshed as I silently converse with them.　京都北山の山中には不思議なものが数多くある。中でも時々書く片波の巨大伏条台杉群の森と大悲山の三本杉は僕のお気に入りの場所。長年に渡る豪雪により変形した巨人達の間を彼らと静かに対話しながら歩き、古来大切に守られてきた山寺の神木の前にたたずむと、心地よく清新な気分になる。

I brought a friend of mine to the forest the other day. She had been going through the hardship in her stressful work environment. I think she could be released from her stresses– if not perfectly but to a certain extent– after seeing the trees that have persevered the harsh weather for a thousand years or more.

We visited another thousand-year-old giants existing in a different part of Kitayama– the Triplet Cryptomerias of Daihizan, or Sambonsugi (大悲山三本杉) . Unike the ones in Katanami, they are straight and standing upright, but strangely, their trunks share the single base. Deep in the mountains and clad in the solemn air, these sacred trees of nearby Bujo-ji temple (峰定寺) are certainly awe-inspiring.

Through the tacit dialogues with all those giants in the Nature, my fried must feel that her existence was so small and her troubles in the work seemed like just another itty-bitty trifles– if so, I feel good about it, too.