English Version
Late at night, people say the sound of crying can sometimes be heard here.
The “Crying Tree” was reportedly a Japanese elm that once stood in the area. According to the legend, whenever anyone tried to cut it down, the tree would cry out and curse the workers.
The national highway that passes through this area was originally said to have been routed around the tree. Later, however, a plan was made to straighten the road. When the work began, every time a worker put a saw to the tree, a sound like weeping could be heard, and the saw blades supposedly snapped one after another.
Axes were no use either. In one version of the story, an axe handle broke, causing the blade to fly into a worker’s abdomen and kill him.
After that, construction continued to face trouble, and the number of injuries or incidents reportedly kept growing. Eventually, the plan was canceled. Local residents came to call the tree the “Crying Tree.”
It is said that the tree was later cut down by a young person acting recklessly while drunk. Even so, the road is still said to curve around the spot where the tree once stood.
The legend is associated with Sakuragaoka, Kuriyama Town, Yubari District, Hokkaido. If you visit the area, treat it as an active roadside location: do not stop in unsafe places, enter private property, or obstruct traffic.
Japanese Language
夜中になると泣き声が聞こえてくるという噂がある。泣く木とはかつてあったハルニレの木のことという。切り倒そうとすると泣き声をあげ作業員を呪うと言われていた。ここを通る国道は、元々はこの木を迂回するような形になっていたのだが、その後、国道を直線にする計画が進められた。いざ計画が実行され、作業が開始されると、作業員が木にノコギリを当てるたびに泣き声のような音が聞こえ、ノコギリの刃は悉くに折れてしまったということだ。オノでもダメだった。柄の部分が折れてしまい、勢い刃先が作業員の腹部に刺さり死亡してしまったということもあったらしい。
この後も工事は難航し被害は増え続けたために計画は中止。その後、住民からは、「泣く木」と呼ばれるようになった。その後、若者が酔った勢いで切り倒してしまったといわれているが、現在でも、この木があった部分を避けるように道路はカーブしたままだということだ。北海道夕張郡栗山町桜丘
