Why does it look like several trees at once?

The original trunk decayed away long ago. What grew back is a cluster of stems from the old base and root, each now substantial in its own right, which is the ordinary fate of a very old katsura.

Yes, it is publicly viewable on the hillside with no charge.

When is the best time to see it?

October and November, when the leaves turn butter yellow and the fallen ones smell of burnt sugar.

What is the oldest tree in Okuizumo?

Okuizumo's only mapped tree, and its oldest, is Takezaki no Katsura, a katsura put at roughly 1,300 years old as an organism. It grows on the slope above the Hii River in Takasu, Okuizumo, Shimane Prefecture.

The trunk that started this tree is gone. What stands on the slope above the Hii River is a cluster of heavy stems that grew from the old base and root once the original decayed away, each now a substantial tree in its own right, which is the ordinary fate of a very old katsura. The age given here, roughly 1,300 years, belongs to the organism rather than to any single stem. It has been a National Natural Monument since 1933 and reaches 32 metres; no source checked has ever taped its girth, an awkward measurement on a tree this shape. Iron is why the species matters here: Okuizumo was the heart of Japan's tatara country, where sand iron was smelted in clay furnaces, and Kanayago-kami, the deity of the furnace, is said to have come down riding a white heron and settled in a katsura. That made the tree sacred across the district, and this is the specimen the district kept. It is free and publicly viewable on the hillside, reached by car in rural Okuizumo Town. Go in autumn: katsura turn a clear butter yellow, and the fallen leaves smell of burnt sugar.

Read the full story of Takezaki no Katsura, or see all 1 remarkable ancient trees in Okuizumo.

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