Yamataka Jindai Zakura: Japan's Oldest Cherry Tree (2,000 Years Old)

A single Edohigan cherry tree standing in the grounds of Jissoji, an old temple of the Nichiren sect in Mukawa-cho, Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture, is the "Yamataka Jindai Zakura." Counted among "Japan's three great cherry trees" alongside the Miharu Takizakura in Fukushima and the Neodani Usuzumi Zakura in Gifu, it is regarded as the oldest of them all.

A Giant of 2,000 Years

Its age is put at 1,800 or even 2,000 years, and it is considered one of the oldest cherry trees in Japan. The tree stands about 10.3 meters tall, with a trunk circumference of about 11.8 meters at the base and branches spreading 17.3 meters east to west and 13.0 meters north to south; old as it is, it still comes into flower, and the sight is overwhelming. In Taisho 11 (1922) it became National Natural Monument No. 1. In Heisei 2 (1990) it was also chosen for the "New 100 Famous Trees of Japan."

The Origin of the Name, and the Legends

The name "Jindai Zakura," the cherry of the age of the gods, comes from the tradition that Yamato Takeru no Mikoto, the hero of Japanese mythology, planted this tree during his eastern campaign. It is also said that in the Kamakura period, when Saint Nichiren saw the tree in decline and prayed for its recovery, it blossomed once again, and for that reason it is also called the "Myoho-zakura." Having overcome repeated declines in its vigor and lived on to this day under the attentive care of tree doctors and others, it is a tree that stands as a very symbol of life.

The Grounds of Jissoji, Where the Cherry Is Protected and Passed On

The Jindai Zakura stands at Jissoji, an old temple of the Nichiren sect. Through long years the cherry has been protected and handed down together with the temple. Now an aged tree held up by supports, every spring it still puts on its pale blossoms and welcomes a great many people. In recent years an initiative known as the "space cherry" has become well known, in which seeds from this tree were carried into space and grown after their return, so that a life continuing from the distant past is passed on into the future.

Best Viewing Time and Access

The blossoms are usually at their best from late March to early April, with full bloom lasting about a week to ten days. Besides the Jindai Zakura, the grounds are planted with about thirty Somei Yoshino cherry trees and some eighty thousand trumpet daffodils, so in spring the whole area is wrapped in flowers. Behind them spread the snow-capped peaks of the Southern Alps, and the interplay of blossom and mountains is another highlight. From Hinoharu Station on the JR Chuo Main Line it is about ten to fifteen minutes by taxi (the Hokuto City Tourism Association gives "ten minutes" on its Jissoji page and "about fifteen minutes" on its Yamataka Jindai Zakura page). To see the cherry from within the grounds of Jissoji, an admission fee is required (500 yen general, 300 yen for Hokuto City residents, free for junior high school students and younger). Hanami parties in the grounds are prohibited. Because the state of the blossom varies from year to year, please check the official information of the Hokuto City Tourism Association before you set out.

The Edohigan Cherry

The Jindai Zakura is an Edohigan cherry (Edo higan zakura). It is a kind that flowers before its leaves open and is known for its long life, and many of the famous lone cherry trees surviving around the country are Edohigan. The Jindai Zakura is regarded as the oldest and one of the largest Edohigan in Japan, and in Taisho 11 (1922) it was designated a National Natural Monument. Jissoji's own explanation says that the way the tree, for all its age, still "stretches thick, powerful branches to the east" tells of its vital force. Unlike a Somei Yoshino, which blooms all at once in a burst of splendor, the flowers that this tree seems to wring out of its massive trunk and few branches carry within them the full weight of the years it has lived.

Jissoji, Guardian of the Jindai Zakura

Jissoji, which has protected the Jindai Zakura and handed it down, is a direct branch temple of Kuonji on Mount Minobu, the head temple of the Nichiren sect. According to the temple's own account, it began when Izu no Kami Saneuji became a disciple of the fifth head priest of Mount Minobu and took over a Shingon-sect temple at Otsu in the village of Yamataka, converting it to the Nichiren sect; it is said to have been moved later to its present site, the ruins of the castle of Ichijo Jiro Tadayori. The tradition of the "Myoho-zakura," the cherry whose recovery Saint Nichiren prayed for when its vigor had failed, also shows the bond between this temple and this tree. The Jindai Zakura has been not merely a famous tree but also an object of prayer, protected and passed down through the generations by the temple and the people of the area.

Photography Tips

The star of the Jindai Zakura is its overwhelming trunk, about eleven point eight meters around at the base. If you want to bring out the mass of the trunk, use a wide-angle lens and set up low, looking upward, and you can fit the propped-up branches and the sweep of the sky into a single frame. Putting the ridgeline of the Southern Alps behind the tree is the classic composition, with the white of the remaining snow answering the pale color of the flowers. Use the yellow of the daffodils at your feet as a foreground blur and you add another color for a picture that feels like spring. In the middle of the day you tend to be shooting into the light, so early in the morning, when the light is soft, the color of the flowers comes out more honestly and there are relatively few people. Photograph the cherry from outside the fence, and never step inside the ropes or the protected area.

Other Cherry Trees Around Hokuto City Worth Visiting

The area around Hokuto City is a treasury of lone cherry trees, and many people combine them with the Jindai Zakura. "Wanizuka no Sakura," introduced by the Hokuto City Tourism Association in its recommended cherry blossom course, is an Edohigan of about three hundred and twenty years. It is striking for the way it stands alone at the center of a mound with the snow-streaked mountains behind it, and it is lit up at night during the best viewing period. At Bankyuin in Mukawa-cho, a hundred-year-old Maizuru pine and a well-tended garden set off the cherry blossoms, giving a mood in harmony with the ranges of the Southern Alps. The row of cherry trees along the Jingu River is a spot loved by locals, where you can enjoy an unhurried hanami beside white sand and clear water. There is also Ryuganji, called "the temple of flowers" for its magnolias, mamezakura and moss phlox, and Furusato Park, where you can look out from high ground over the townscape of Sutama and the Kofu Basin. With a car you can visit several cherry sites in a single day.

Jissoji Through the Four Seasons

The Jindai Zakura is at its best only once a year, for a mere week to ten days. Even if you visit outside the cherry season, though, the quiet grounds among the hills are a pleasant place. Clothed in young leaves in early summer, wrapped in the shrill of cicadas in high summer, with the snow of the Southern Alps coming down in autumn, and capped with snow in winter when the bones of the branches are laid bare, the same tree shows completely different faces season by season. The flowerless months are in fact the best chance to gaze slowly at the shape of a trunk that has recorded what is said to be two thousand years.

Practical Information for Your Visit

• Best viewing time and season: usually late March to early April (full bloom lasts about 1 week to 10 days). The start of the peak period announced by the Hokuto City Tourism Association in recent years was around March 30 in 2025, around April 1 in 2024, around March 23 in 2023 and around March 29 in 2022, so it shifts considerably from year to year.
• Event period / illumination: in 2026 the Jindai Zakura Festival ran from March 24 to April 19. The dates shift each year with the state of the blossom, so check the Hokuto City Tourism Association announcement for the following spring.
• Fees: to see the cherry from within the grounds of Jissoji, an admission fee is required (500 yen general, 300 yen for Hokuto City residents, free for junior high school students and younger). You can also view the tree from outside the grounds.
• Access: by car, about 15 minutes from Sutama IC on the Chuo Expressway, or about 30 minutes from Kobuchizawa IC. Search your car navigation for "Jissoji" (2763 Yamataka, Mukawa-cho, Hokuto City). By train, about 10 to 15 minutes by taxi from Hinoharu Station on the JR Chuo Main Line (the Hokuto City Tourism Association's Jissoji page says "10 minutes" and its Yamataka Jindai Zakura page says "about 15 minutes"). If you travel by limited express, it is about 30 minutes by taxi from JR Kobuchizawa Station. Note that the local bus from JR Nirasaki Station bound for Shimokyoraishi (the Shimokyoraishi line) was discontinued on March 31, 2026.
• Parking: there is a car park just south of the temple grounds (a 1 minute walk to the grounds). During the blossom season paid temporary car parks are opened (2,000 yen for large vehicles / 500 yen for ordinary cars). There is no reservation system.
• Clothing and equipment: there are some steps in the grounds, but visiting by wheelchair is possible and the toilets in the grounds are barrier-free. There is one toilet beside the car park and one in the grounds, and portable toilets are also installed during the Jindai Zakura Festival. The temple lies among the hills at about 550 meters above sea level, and mornings and evenings in the cherry season are cold, so bring warm clothing.
• Prohibitions and safety: hanami parties in the grounds are prohibited. During the cherry season there is congestion in the surrounding area, and the road narrows beyond the "Makihara" intersection on National Route 20. Marshals are stationed near the site, so please follow their directions.

* The state of the blossom varies from year to year. Please check the Hokuto City Tourism Association's live camera and blossom information before you set out.

(Sources: Hokuto City Tourism Association, "Yamataka Jindai Zakura" and "Jissoji" / Hokuto City Film Commission Location Library, "Yamataka Jindai Zakura")