elements

今夜はさすがにもっぱら私だけですね。四国で罰当たりなことが連続で起きています。ご神木に農薬を染みこませて、木を枯らしてしまう事件です。

elementsはここでも取り上げましたが、この文脈ではどういう意味になりますか。EnDoughくん、プレゼントです。（UG）

Serial tree killer on the loose in 5 prefectures

The So-Kawachi Daimei Shrine in Ehime Prefecture sits in the tiny remote village of Namegawa nestled in the mountainous outskirts of Toon city. It is home to a pair of sacred hinoki (Japanese cypress) trees each over 500 years old.

In September, strange holes were found around the base of their trunks and substantial withering was taking place throughout the trees. A subsequent police investigation found traces of chemical used an “arboricide” or tree poison.

After long consideration, the shrine determined on Dec 26 that the considerably weakened trees posed a risk of collapse and needed to be cut down.

The day before, the head priest and townspeople held a ritual to pray for the safe removal of the trees. The priest gave a Shinto prayer known as a norito to thank the trees for their protection of the shrine from the elements for so many years.

“For many years, these trees and I have watched over this shrine. With the trees gone, there is only emptiness,” said the head priest in a eulogy fused with frustration over someone deliberately killing these landmarks of his shrine.

He then faced the trees one last time and gave an offering of rice and salt so that their souls may be calmed. The following day, after half a millennium, the two trees came down.

As a result of this incident, the Forestry Agency conducted an emergency survey for sacred trees that died by human hands. What they found was a string of sacred tree poisonings across several prefectures west of Aichi.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/serial-tree-killer-on-the-loose-in-5-prefectures