Japan’s Largest Cherry Tree

An expedition into a national forest near Okuchi, Kagoshima, Japan, has verified reports that a huge cherry tree was growing there. It was discovered off a forest road at about 600 meters (1,968 feet) above sea level. Its size? It was 22.2 meters (72.8 feet) around at the base. At one meter above the ground it was 10.9 meters (nearly 36 feet) in circumference. The trunk was 24 meters (78.7 feet) in height, while the branches spread out about 28 meters (92 feet). Its age was estimated at 600 years. Until this discovery in 1977, Japan’s largest known cherry tree was the “Jindai Sakura” in Mukawa, Yamanashi Prefecture. That tree is 13 meters high and has a trunk circumference of 10.6 meters. It measures 13 meters at the base. The age is estimated at 1,000 years.