Great sugi of Kayano

Great sugi in 2007

Emperor Shōwa gazes at Kayano Osugi on 27 October 1947

The great sugi of Kayano (栢野大杉, Kayano Ōsugi) is a Cryptomeria (Sugi) tree at Yamanaka Onsen in Kaga, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. One of the four trees believed to be sacred in the precincts of the Sugawara Shrine, it has received the distinction of designation as a Special Natural Monument from the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan.

The tree stands 54.8 metres (180 ft) tall. At the base, it measures 11.5 metres (38 ft) in circumference and 3.41 metres (11.2 ft) across. At chest height, it is 9.6 metres (31 ft) around and 3.0 metres (9.8 ft) across. The tree splits into two trunks 4.9 metres (16 ft) above ground level. In 1928, Professor Manabu Miyoshi of Tokyo Imperial University estimated the age of the tree to be 2,300 years. The other three trees are 8.8 metres (29 ft), 6.65 metres (21.8 ft) and 7.8 metres (26 ft) at chest height and natural monument of Ishikawa Prefecture. These four trees are deemed artificially planted by human due to each tree position formed corner of rectangle, and Jōmon pottery excavated from field hill adjacent to shrine.

Jōmon period artifacts unearthed near the shrine establish that human habitation predates recorded history. Warriors including members of the Taira, Minamoto, Asakura, and the Togashi (富樫氏) clan are said to have come to the shrine. In 1947, on the occasion of the second National Sports Festival of Japan (held in Ishikawa Prefecture), Emperor Shōwa visited the great sugi.

Sources

• This article incorporates material from the article 栢野大杉 (Kayano Ōsugi) in the Japanese Wikipedia, retrieved on December 9, 2007.

See also

• Jōmon Sugi
• List of individual trees
• List of oldest trees
• List of records of Japan

External links

• The Great Cedar of Kayano Fauna and Flora, Ishikawa Prefecture