darkness under trees; gloom of a forest
Literary word evoking the deep shade beneath dense foliage. Often used in poetic or descriptive writing.
On a summer afternoon, I walked seeking coolness in the shade under the trees.
The path was enveloped in the darkness under the trees, dark even at midday.
Compound of 木下 (こした, 'under the trees') and 闇 (やみ, 'darkness'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the word is used in classical and literary Japanese.