HIDA Japanese Yew
飛騨国一位（ヒダコクイチイ）
産地；岐阜県（県木）
イチイ科イチイ属の常緑針葉樹で、岐阜の県木です。古語でアララギとも呼び万葉集でもその名前で登場し、神聖な木として扱われてきました。平安時代9世紀、中納言の小野篁（おののたかむら）が嵯峨天皇に一位で作った笏を献上したところ、大変その美しさに惹かれ小野篁に一位の位を授けたとされることから、この木が一位と呼ばれるようになりました。それ以降も位の高貴な人物の笏だけでなく、一位の材は品格と高貴な材として愛用されることとなりました。
木の力；高貴、品格、慎み
HIDA Japanese Yew
Origin: Gifu Prefecture (Prefectural Tree)
The HIDA Japanese Yew is an evergreen conifer belonging to the yew family (Taxaceae) and genus Taxus. It is the prefectural tree of Gifu. In ancient Japanese, it was also called Araragi and appears in the Manyoshu, Japan’s oldest anthology of poetry, where it was revered as a sacred tree.
During the Heian period (9th century), it is said that the court noble Ono no Takamura presented Emperor Saga with a ceremonial scepter (shaku) made from Ichii wood. The emperor was so impressed by its beauty that he granted Ono no Takamura the court rank of “Ichii” (First Rank). From this story, the tree came to be known as Ichii.
Since then, Ichii wood has been prized not only for scepters of high-ranking nobles but also as a refined and noble material symbolizing dignity and virtue.
Symbolism: Nobility, Elegance, Modesty