Japanese Train Station Protectively Built Around a 700-Year-Old Tree

All too often we hear of natural elements being removed to make way for man-made structures. Fortunately, this story out of Japan details just the opposite. North of Osaka, an odd train station was actually built to accommodate a large camphor tree that emerges from its center.

The Kayashima Station is actually younger than the Big Kusu Tree of Kayashima, as it’s commonly known in Japan. While the station was built in 1910, experts estimate that the sprawling tree is at least 700-years-old.

At the time the station was built, the camphor tree stood directly to the right of the building. However, an increase in population and station overcrowding in the 1970s meant that Kayashima Station was in desperate need of expansion. And while initial plans simply called for the removal of the tree, this caused a local uproar.


http://mymodernmet.com/kayashima-station-camphor-tree/