Minami-Hanazawa no Hananoki: The Maple That Outlived Its Own Trunk
On 4 August 2010, the thick central trunk of a maple in the village of Minami-Hanazawa finally came down. It had stood hollow for years, weakened by old lightning damage and decay, and despite soil treatment and a support post fixed to its southern side, the wood could no longer hold. Yet the tree did not die. New shoots pushed out from the surviving branches on its western side, and the following spring it flowered again. The fallen trunk now rests beside the shrine's worship hall, wrapped in a sacred straw rope.
This is the hananoki of Minami-Hanazawa, a National Natural Monument designated on 3 March 1921. It grows within the precincts of Hachiman Shrine in Minami-Hanazawa-cho, Higashiomi City, Shiga Prefecture, and it is the shrine's sacred tree. Among hananoki recognised by the state as individual specimens, this one holds a particular distinction: it is the westernmost member of its species in Japan.
A Maple Far From Its Native Ground
The hananoki (Acer pycnanthum) is a deciduous maple whose natural range lies well to the east, mainly in the wetland margins of the Kiso River basin across Nagano, Gifu, and Aichi prefectures. Both the Minami-Hanazawa tree and its companion at nearby Kita-Hanazawa stand outside that range, which has led botanists to conclude that neither grew here on its own. They were almost certainly carried in and planted by human hands.
How they came to Hanazawa is explained, in the way villages explain such things, by a story. Prince Shotoku, the early statesman credited with founding Hyakusaiji temple some three kilometres to the east, is said to have passed through this area while the temple was being built. He prayed that Buddhism would flourish, and pressed a pair of offering chopsticks into the ground, one in the northern hamlet and one in the southern. Both took root and grew into great trees. Local tradition holds that the place name Hanazawa itself comes from these maples.
Whatever the truth of the chopsticks, the trees were certainly known long before their modern designation. A regional gazetteer completed in 1734, the Omi Yochi Shiryaku, records the "flower tree" of Minami-Hanazawa village alongside its counterpart to the north, describing them as an unusual species that blossomed at the spring and autumn equinoxes. By the eighteenth century, in other words, these were already trees worth writing down.
Why It Was Designated
When the survey for designation was carried out, the tree was recorded as having a trunk girth at eye level of roughly 3.6 metres, with the upper trunk dividing into two large limbs, and the wood judged sound and vigorous. It and the Kita-Hanazawa tree were noted together as old and well-known giants of their kind. That combination of size, age, and rarity placed the hananoki under the protection criterion for notable and venerable trees.
Estimates of its age vary by source, ranging from more than 250 years to roughly 450 years, and later measurements recorded a larger girth as the tree continued to grow. By the late twentieth century it was regarded as the largest hananoki in Japan, and in 1990 it was chosen for the New Hundred Famous Trees of Japan, a list compiled around the International Garden and Greenery Exposition held that year. Its value rests not only on its dimensions but on what it represents: a tree carried far from home, kept alive for centuries by a community that treated it as sacred.
What to Look For
The hananoki earns its name, which means "flower tree," in the first days of April. Before the leaves appear, the bare branches fill with clusters of small crimson flowers, and the whole crown takes on a deep red glow. The display is brief. The flowers tend to last only about a week, so the timing of a visit matters. Hananoki bear male and female flowers on separate trees, and the Minami-Hanazawa specimen is male; this is why, when its health began to fail, female saplings were brought in from Gifu and planted nearby.
Autumn brings a second, slower show as the foliage shifts from green through red to yellow. For a visitor, the most affecting sight may be neither season's colour but the fallen trunk itself. Set beside the worship hall and marked with a sacred rope, the great hollow section makes plain both the scale the tree once reached and the fragility that no amount of care could finally hold off. Beside it, the living tree continues, lower and smaller now, growing on from the branches that survived.
The shrine grounds are open and quiet, and the tree can be seen at any time of year without charge. There is no admission gate and no fixed hours; this is a village shrine, and visitors are asked simply to be respectful of a place still in active use.
Around Minami-Hanazawa
The most natural pairing is the second tree of the legend. The hananoki of Kita-Hanazawa stands about 600 metres away, reached by following National Route 307 a short distance to the north-northeast. It too is a National Natural Monument, designated on the same day in 1921, and seeing both completes the story the chopstick tale begins.
Three kilometres east lies Hyakusaiji, the temple at the heart of the legend and one of the three mountain temples known collectively as the Koto Sanzan. All three are celebrated for their autumn maples, and a trip that takes in the hananoki and one or more of these temples makes for a full day in the eastern hills of Shiga. Next to the Minami-Hanazawa tree, a small rural park holds a statue of Prince Shotoku, a quiet acknowledgement of the figure to whom the village owes both its trees and its name.
The site sits in farmland away from rail lines. The simplest approach is by car: it is about ten minutes from the Yokaichi interchange on the Meishin Expressway, and a parking area is provided beside the rural park. By public transport, the Nakazato bus stop on the Kokoku bus network is roughly a fifteen-minute walk away.
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Q&A
- When is the best time to see the tree in flower?
- The crimson flowers usually open in the first days of April and last only about a week. Because the timing shifts year to year with the weather, it is worth checking locally before making a special trip. Late November offers a different reward, when the foliage turns.
- What happened to the original trunk?
- The hollowed main trunk decayed and collapsed on 4 August 2010. The tree survived through new growth from its western branches, and the fallen trunk is preserved beside the shrine's worship hall, set with a sacred straw rope.
- Is there an admission fee or set opening hours?
- No. The tree stands in the open precincts of a village shrine and can be visited freely at any time. As the shrine remains in use, visitors are asked to behave respectfully.
- Can I visit the Kita-Hanazawa tree on the same trip?
- Yes, and it is well worth doing. The Kita-Hanazawa hananoki is only about 600 metres away along National Route 307, and it was designated a National Natural Monument on the same date in 1921.
- How do I get there without a car?
- The nearest convenient stop is Nakazato on the Kokoku bus network, about a fifteen-minute walk from the site. The area is rural, so a car is the easier option for most visitors and allows an onward trip to Hyakusaiji.
Basic Information
| Name | Minami-Hanazawa no Hananoki |
|---|---|
| Location | 546 Minami-Hanazawa-cho, Higashiomi City, Shiga Prefecture (precincts of Hachiman Shrine) |
| Designation | National Natural Monument |
| Date of designation | 3 March 1921 (Taisho 10) |
| Species | Hananoki (Acer pycnanthum), a deciduous maple; this is a male tree |
| Recorded dimensions | Trunk girth of about 3.6 m at the time of the designation survey; a 1995 measurement gave roughly 5.2 m at 1.3 m above the ground. Age estimates range from over 250 to about 450 years. |
| Note | The hollowed main trunk collapsed on 4 August 2010 and is preserved beside the worship hall; the tree survives through new growth. |
| Access | About 10 minutes by car from Yokaichi IC on the Meishin Expressway; about 15 minutes on foot from Nakazato bus stop. Parking available. |
| Admission | Free; open shrine precincts, no fixed hours |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs — Minami-Hanazawa no Hananoki
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/401/1555
- Cultural Heritage Online (National Institute of Informatics) — Minami-Hanazawa no Hananoki
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/162991
- Wikipedia (Japanese) — Minami-Hanazawa no Hananoki
- https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/南花沢のハナノキ
- Shiga Tourism Official Site — The Hananoki of Minami-Hanazawa and Kita-Hanazawa
- https://www.biwako-visitors.jp/spot/detail/1672/
- Higashiomi Tourism Navi — The Hananoki of Kita-Hanazawa and Minami-Hanazawa
- https://www.higashiomi.net/media/miru/a182
Last verified: 2026.05.25