Ancient Trees in Yakushima
ancienttrees.app

Jomon Sugi
Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica). estimated 2,600+ years (official Ministry of Environment figure; disputed, see notes). Free to view (no entry ticket to the forest itself), but a voluntary mountain-area conservation cooperation fee is strongly requested on this route: 1,000 yen for a day visit, 2,000 yen if overnighting in the mountains, for middle-school age and up. The tree itself is fenced off for protection: visitors view it from a wooden deck roughly 10m from the trunk, mainly from three sides, and may not approach the base or roots (root-plate trampling damage is the reason). This is a serious mountain hike, not a park walk: round trip from the Arakawa trailhead is roughly 9-10 hours, largely along an old logging-tramway bed (torokko-michi, about 8km) followed by a mountain trail. From 1 March to 30 November, the access road to the Arakawa trailhead is closed to private cars; visitors must buy a seat in advance on the Arakawa Tozan shuttle bus, which runs from the Yakusugi Museum bus stop. From 1 December to end of February, private cars may drive to the trailhead directly. Sturdy hiking gear, an early start (buses run pre-dawn) and a full day are required; this is explicitly the kind of trip that must be described honestly as a serious hike, never as a stroll.