The is the popular name for three separate tree-lined sections of roads in the city of Nikkō, Tochigi in the northern

Kantō region The is a geography, geographical region of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures of Japan, prefectures: Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, Gunma Prefe ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. These roads are the

Nikkō Kaidō The was one of the centrally administered Edo Five Routes, five routes of the Edo period. It was built to connect the ''de facto'' capital of Japan at Edo (modern-day Tokyo) with the temple-shrine complex of the Mangan-ji and Tōshōsha (now cal ...

, Nikkō Reiheishi Kaidō and Aizu Nishi Kaidō and the 13,000

cryptomeria ''Cryptomeria'' (literally "hidden parts") is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae. It includes only one species, ''Cryptomeria japonica'' ( syn. ''Cupressus japonica'' L.f.). It is considered to be endemic to Japan, ...

trees lining a total of of these roads form a monumental approach to the Shrines and Temples of Nikkō. Although it is not a single continuous road, the "Cedar Avenue of Nikkō" was listed in the 1996 ''

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

'' as the longest tree-lined avenue in the world.''Guinness Book of World Records'', 1996 edition, p. 51 It is the only cultural property designated by the Japanese Government as both a ''Special Historic Site'' and a ''Special Natural Monument''.

Overview

During the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

maintained a system of highways across Japan, including the

Edo Five Routes The , sometimes translated as "Five Highways", were the five centrally administered routes, or ''kaidō'', that connected the ''de facto'' capital of Japan at Edo (now Tokyo) with the outer provinces during the Edo period (1603–1868). The most ...

, which connected the Shōgun's capital of

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

with the provinces. These routes were marked with ''

ichirizuka are historic Japanese distance markers akin to milestones. Comprising a pair of earthen mounds (''tsuka'' Rendaku, or ''zuka'') covered in trees and flanking the road, they denoted the distance in ''Japanese unit#Length, ri'' () to Nihonbashi, t ...

'' to indicate distance, and were planted with trees on either side (typically

Japanese red pine ''Pinus densiflora'', also called the Japanese red pine, the Japanese pine, or Korean red pine, is a species of pine tree native to East Asia and Siberia. In China, the plant is known as 赤松 (pinyin: chì sōng, literally "red pine"). Distrib ...

) to provide shade for travelers. The routes to Nikkō were of especial importance to the Shogunate, as it held the mausoleum and memorial shrines and temples to its founder,

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

, and his grandson

Tokugawa Iemitsu was the third ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa dynasty. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada with Oeyo, and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lady Kasuga was his wet nurse, who acted as his political adviser and was at the ...

, and was thus a pilgrimage destination for generations of ''Shōgun'' and important ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

''. The project to plant the approaches to Nikkō with cryptomeria was begun by Matsudaira Masatsuna, ''daimyō'' of Tamanawa Domain in

Sagami Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan located in what is today the central and western Kanagawa Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kanagawa''" at . Sagami Province bordered the provinces of Izu Province, Izu ...

, and a descendant of a cadet branch of the

Matsudaira clan The was a Japanese samurai clan that descended from the Minamoto clan. It originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture). During the Sengoku period, the chieftain of the main line of the ...

. He began donating and planting seedlings brought from

Kii Province , or , was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is today Wakayama Prefecture, as well as the southern part of Mie Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kii''" in . Kii bordered Ise, Izumi, Kawachi, Shima, and Yamato Pro ...

around the year 1625. The cedar-lined approaches were officially dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1648, on his 33rd memorial anniversary, and Matsudaira Masatsuna died later the same year. Memorial stone markers were erected in four locations by his son, who continued the project and, together with later donations, it is estimated that some 200,000 trees were planted. During the Edo period, the trees were managed by the ''Nikkō bugyō'', the magistrate in charge of the Nikkō shrines and temples. After the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, the trees were endangered by neglect and logging, but an estimated 12,500 trees survive to this day. These 400-year-old trees remained endangered due to continued urban encroachment and due to the exhaust from automobiles, as the former footpaths they line have become modern highways ( Japan National Route 119 and Japan National Route 121).

References

External links

Tochigi Prefectural Home PageSuginamki official home page
Roads in Tochigi Prefecture Natural monuments of Japan Special Historic Sites Tourist attractions in Tochigi Prefecture Nikkō, Tochigi {{tochigi-geo-stub

Overview

See also

References

External links