Miharu Takizakura (Waterfall Cherry) (三春滝ザクラ)
Photo: 京浜にけ at Japanese Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0

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Giant & Ancient Trees of Japan

Japan’s nationally designated Natural Monument trees, and the trees in my Journal, on one map, each with a photograph and its sources.

Explore the mapFrom the JournalBrowse all trees

  • 167 trees
  • 45 prefectures
  • 15 featured in the Journal
  • CC photos under open licences

By Isaki Kasahara, arborist in Tokyo · Updated

From the Journal

Trees from the articles

15 trees I have written about. Each card opens the article.

The map

Find a tree

Search by name, species or place. Select a card, or a dot on the map, to see a tree.

  • Natural Monument
  • In the Journal
  • Ring: Special Natural Monument

All trees

Browse the 167 trees

167 trees, from north to south.

Questions

Quick answers

How many trees are on this map?

This map shows 167 trees, each with a photograph. 161 are nationally designated Natural Monuments, 9 of them Special Natural Monuments, and 15 appear in articles on this site. They stand in 45 of Japan’s 47 prefectures; Shizuoka has the most, with 12.

What makes a tree a Natural Monument in Japan?

A Natural Monument (tennen kinenbutsu) is a plant, animal or landform that the national government designates for protection because of its scientific or scenic value; the most important may be raised to Special. For trees, the Agency for Cultural Affairs lists notable, giant and old trees. The 161 national trees here were designated between 1920 and 2004.

Which tree here has the largest trunk?

Among trees with a recorded girth, Kamo no Okusu in Kagoshima has the largest: 24.22 m around the trunk, given in my Journal article, which cites a national survey. Kinomiya Okusu follows at 23.9 m. These are older measurements, not a current survey.

Can I visit these trees?

Most can be visited freely, because they stand in shrine and temple grounds or in parks. Keep to the paths, do not step on the roots or touch the trunk, and bow quietly at a sacred tree. A tree on private land is shown only to its municipality, which is not permission to enter.

Where do the photographs come from?

166 of the 167 photographs come from Wikimedia Commons, under the free licences CC0, public domain, CC BY or CC BY-SA. The photographer and licence appear on every photo, linked to the original page. One photograph, of Garyu no Matsu, Jushoin Temple, is my own and is not freely licensed.

About this mapHow it was made, sources, and how to cite it

What is on it

167 trees, each with a freely licensed photograph. 161 are nationally designated Natural Monuments (9 of them Special Natural Monuments); 15 appear in articles on this site, including trees with a prefectural or municipal designation or none. Avenues, groves and wild populations are left out, and so are trees for which no suitable photograph could be found. The database lists about 245 single trees; this edition shows those with a photograph.

How accurate is it

  • Ages are estimates or tradition. A figure from local tradition is written “said to be”. No age here is a ring count unless it says so.
  • Girth and height are not current surveys. They come from the source named for each tree, usually the description written when the tree was designated.
  • The map point marks the site. For a shrine, temple or garden tree it is the official position or the position of the site, not the exact trunk. A faded dot is rounded to the municipality centre. Close dots are grouped into a numbered circle; zoom in to separate them.
  • Some trees have fallen. They are marked in the name and kept because they matter to the story of the place.

If you go

Most of these trees stand in shrine and temple grounds, parks or on private land. Keep to the paths, follow the signs, and do not step on or dig around the roots, touch the trunk or take leaves and branches. Bow quietly if the tree is a sacred one. A tree on private land is shown only to the municipality; being on this map is not permission to enter, so please ask first.

Sources

Designation, year, position
National Cultural Properties Database (国指定文化財等データベース), Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan. Selected, translated and adapted by Isaki Kasahara for this map; not an official translation by the Agency.
Girth figures that cite a national survey
Some Journal articles cite girth from the Giant Tree and Forest Database (巨樹・巨木林データベース), Biodiversity Center of Japan, Ministry of the Environment. Those figures are repeated as the articles give them. Translated and adapted by Isaki Kasahara; not an official translation by the Ministry.
Some positions
Positions of trees outside the national list come from Wikidata (CC0) or the GSI address search.
Photographs
From Wikimedia Commons under free licences (CC0, public domain, CC BY, CC BY-SA), and a few of my own. The photographer and licence are shown on each photo.
Background map
Map tiles: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (国土地理院), GSI Tiles (地理院タイル): shaded relief and pale map, with colours modified. Map display by Leaflet and Leaflet.markercluster.
Last updated
25 October 2026. Designations and measurements can change; a tree may have been lost since the source was written.

How to cite this map

Kasahara, Isaki. “Giant & Ancient Trees of Japan.” Japan Blue Arborist, updated 25 October 2026. https://japanbluearborist.com/giant-trees/

Corrections

Found a mistake, or have a better photograph of one of these trees? Please tell me through the contact page.