Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 37(1): January 2011 harmony of Yin and Yang (Purves et al. 2009). Typical house- embracing Fukugi trees should be positioned in the four di- rections of the courtyard to create proper protection. How- ever, with the felling of Fukugi trees, such a typical shape is difficult to find inside villages. When the orientation of the remaining trees were averaged, it was found that the greatest number of large Fukugi trees stand to the north of the house, followed by the eastern side, and then southern side (Table 2). The western side has the smallest number of large Fukugi trees. This is in accordance with the fact that monsoonal winds from the north and typhoons from the eastern side are the greatest threat to property. The survey results confirmed assumptions that Fukugi tree layout is strongly correlated with wind di- rection. Local people have purposely kept the large trees un- touched in the northern and the eastern sides of the courtyard. Huge Trees and the Hamlet Landscape Layout Fukugi tree distribution by tree age is shown in Figure 3. It is clear that Fukugi trees older than 100 years are prevalent in Bise, Tonaki, Imadomari, and Yae, while there are few in Hama. From Figure 3, shows a tendency for huge trees older than 200 years to cluster around important sites in the hamlet, e.g., asyagi, hasagi or haisyo. The Hasagi, also called kami-asagi, is a small build- ing in a sacred place, where guardian deities were summoned for the holding of ceremonies and rituals (Nakamatsu 1977). The Kami-asagi used to be a small building with a low thatched roof supported by four pillars without walls or a floor. At present, most of the kami-asagis have been rebuilt with concrete or tiled roofs. Asagiya: is the local name for asagi in Bise village. Figure 3a shows Fukugi trees older than 200 years were clustered around houses surrounding the asagiya:. The Asagiya: is at the center of Bise village, with the oldest houses around it. In the area in the north of the asagiya:, Fukugi trees were younger, generally not older than 150 years. The distribution of large Fukugi trees here suggests the houses surrounding the asagiya: are the core area of Bise, and that the village developed from its southern part to the northern part. Hasaginkwa: and Fupuhasagi are two kami-asagis belong- ing to Imadomari and Oyatomari in Imadomari, respectively (HCCN 2007). It was found that houses around these two ka- mi-asagis have more Fukugi trees in excess of 200-years-old than other areas. A broad road of about 250 m between the two kami-asagis is called baba (馬場), which was an open space used for horse training, horse racing, and tug-of-war. This place is now where the Harvest Festival is held every year. In Tonaki Island, large Fukugi trees older than 200 years are clustered in the eastern part of the island, while Fukugi trees in the western part are younger (Figure 3b). Four haisyos out of a total of five inside the village are located in the eastern part. From Figure 3b, one will find the Fukugi trees older than 200 years were clustered in the eastern part of the village. It is obvious that houses in the current residential site were built in the eastern part in earlier years and later in the western part of the village. Tomari Hara is thought to be the earliest settlement of Aguni village, where people moved from a mountainous area in the west to the current flat area (Aguni Son Shi 1984). It is diffi- cult to pinpoint the exact location of Tomari Hara. Its bound- ary was drawn by a local villager named Tsuyoshi Komine. The Ufuya: (大屋) and ni:ya (根屋) are located in this area. Ufuya: is the male deity of the village and its habitat is a sacred place. 23 Figure 3. Distribution of old house-embracing Fukugi trees older than 100 years inside selected villages. The grayscale legend is pertinent to Figures 3a-3e. 3a) Bise village. The darkened star in- dicates the location of Kami-asagi. Figure 3b. Tonaki. The darkened stars indicate locations of hai- syo, the place where individuals pray to the gods. ©2011 International Society of Arboriculture
January 2011
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