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Nikko NP, Tochigi
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At the Sakura Cedar, a cherry seed sprouted in a split in a cedar, sent roots down through the trunk to the soil, and grew alongside its host. The two species now stand intertwined at the base.
Three old roads make up this 37-km heritage route, but Guinness measures 35.4 km: its record counts the tree-lined stretches, while the official cultural-property length includes gaps around donation monuments.
A giant cedar nicknamed the “Namiki Hotel” has a hollow at its base large enough for about 4 adults. The name belongs to this unusually spacious tree—not an actual inn.
Around 1625, Tokugawa retainer Matsudaira Masatsuna began planting cedars along Nikko’s shrine roads. More than 20 years later, in 1648—the year of Ieyasu’s 33rd memorial—he donated the avenue to Toshogu.
Nikko Cedar Avenue is Japan’s only site designated both a Special Historic Site and a Special Natural Monument. One status protects the old road and its donation steles; the other protects the living cedars.
One cedar beside the old Nikko Road still bears a cannonball scar from the 1868 Boshin War. It was struck during an early clash between Imperial troops led by Itagaki Taisuke and Tokugawa forces.
Four inscribed donation steles still stand along the route. Masatsuna’s son erected them after his father’s death to record the gift; they also marked the boundary of Toshogu’s lands.
Local tradition says workers hauling Kuroda Nagamasa’s great stone torii to Toshogu ate 10 koku of rice—about 1,500 kg—while struggling up a steep stretch of the old Reiheishi Road, giving it the name “Ten-koku Slope.”
In 1943, a wartime drive to supply shipbuilding timber put the entire avenue at risk of being cut down. Strong objections from officials and civilian experts helped avert the complete felling.
The tally fell from 16,479 trees in 1961 to 12,025 on March 31, 2026. On that date, 558 cedars were under owner contracts: supporters buy a tree for ¥10 million, and the invested proceeds help fund its care.
To keep passing cars from compacting cedar roots, conservationists use hollow concrete blocks filled with nourishing soil beneath the roadway. Cars can still pass above while roots have room to grow.
Local volunteers called Sugi no Namiki-mori—the “Cedar-Avenue Guardians”—help care for the avenue by clearing weeds and litter around the trees, meeting about once a month in organized groups.
