Japanese train station built around massive 700 year-old camphor tree

The Japanese reverence for nature has been well established, especially in the world of design.

However, if anyone still has doubts, they should take a stroll through the Kayashima train station in Neyagawa, a northeastern suburb of Osaka. The train station was carefully constructed around a massive camphor tree that has stood on the site for 700 years.

The Kayashima Station opened in 1910 and was built next to the large tree, whose exact age goes back before local records. As the local population began to grow, it became clear that the station would need to be upgraded. In 1972, plans were approved to expand the site and, according to Spoon and Tamago, those plans called for the tree to be cut down to make space.

Although the history of the train station’s upgrades is a matter of records, there are multiple stories behind the tree’s intact presence today. Some say that it was indeed the Japanese respect for nature that saved the tree from being chopped down. Yet, others say it was nothing more than pure superstition.

Apparently, the tree had long been associated with a local shrine and deity, and its impending demise caused quite the uproar by the local community. Stories began to swirl that the tree was also angry and would curse anyone that dared to cut it down with bad luck.

Whatever the case, station officials were persuaded to keep the tree, and ended up incorporating it into a new elevated platform. The construction was completed in 1980, and features a large hole cut into the roof of the platform where the tree majestically sticks out over the roof. Just to be on the safe side, the officials surrounded the base of the tree with a small shrine.