今年の大イチョウ The ginkgo tree this year

Last year, I've written a post about the 1200 years old ginkgo tree
that stands in the middle of Kokubunji Temple.

You will certainly have different impressions of the tree
depending on which season you will be seeing it.

People of Takayama say that
snow will come once all the leaves fall off this ginkgo tree.

Also,
if all the leaves fall off in a short period of time,
the coming winter will be harsh with lots of snow.
On the other hand, if the falling of the leaves are slow,
the winter will be quite mild with little snow.

Last year the leaves fell off in two or three days,
where as this year, it took almost two weeks.

Are we having a winter with little snow?

We'll see.

昨年の同じころ、国分寺にそびえ立つ
樹齢1200年の大イチョウについて記事を書きました。

どの季節に大イチョウを見るかによって
随分違う印象を受けることでしょう。

大イチョウの落葉(らくよう）に関し、
いくつか言い伝えがあり、
まず一つ目は、
イチョウの葉が全て落ちると雪が降ると言われているそうです。

二つ目は、
落葉のスピードが速い年は大雪が降り、
逆に遅い年は雪が少ないそうです。

ちなみに、昨年は二、三日で葉が落ち、
今年はなんと二週間近くかかったそう。

さぁ、今年の冬は雪が少ないのでしょうか。

結果はまた春に　笑。

young leaves (April)

fresh green (May)

Foliage starting (early November)

almost all leaves are gone (early December)