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Sanriku Fukkō NP, Iwate
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At 27.5 m tall and 173 years old, the pine stood through the 2011 tsunami—but the earthquake had lowered the land, letting saltwater seep into the ground and kill it in May 2012. Its monument stands on the original spot.
A little Christmas project helped bring Takata Matsubara back: 600 of the 40,000 pines planted in 2021 were raised from cones gathered in the old forest in 2010 to make holiday decorations.
Much of the original trunk remains, but its center was hollowed out for preservation and reinforced with a carbon-fiber composite support. The upper branches and leaves are carefully molded replicas.
In May 2026, seeds from cones on a graft-grown clone of the Miracle Pine were handed to the British ambassador, ahead of a planned deposit in Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank in the United Kingdom.
By March 2023, 4,087 recorded donations had raised ¥184,122,266 for preserving the pine and improving its surroundings. The city’s appeal received support from Japan and around the world.
The grove’s story reaches back to 1667, when local official Kanno Mokunosuke planted black pines along the shore. Centuries of local care turned that coastal windbreak into a 2-kilometer forest.
One possible reason the pine remained standing is the nearby Rikuzentakata Youth Hostel, which took a direct hit and was left half-destroyed. Park authorities say the building may have helped shield the tree.
Foresters grafted shoots from the Miracle Pine to grow 4 genetic clones. In 2019, a successor sapling grown by the Tohoku Regional Breeding Office was planted back in Takata Matsubara.
Look near the base for a mosaic inspired by “Hyoromatsu-kun,” a drawing by Takashi Yanase, creator of Anpanman. Yanase also contributed to the fund that preserved the pine.
Workers preserved the pine’s roots separately from the standing monument. In February 2022, the actual roots were shown to the public at Rikuzentakata’s roadside station for the first time.
When the monument was completed in July 2013, local preschoolers welcomed it with songs. The pine had returned to its original place about 2 years and 4 months after the tsunami.
