Miharu Takizakura

The Miharu Takizakura in 2009

The Miharu Takizakura (三春滝桜^?, litt. waterfall cherry tree of Miharu) is an ancient cherry tree in Miharu, Fukushima, in northern Japan. It is a weeping higan cherry (Prunus pendula "Pendula Rosea", benishidarezakura in Japanese) and is over 1,000 years old.

It flowers in mid to late April, and its light pink flowers spread in all directions from the branches, like a waterfall.

The tree is 12 metres high, the trunk circumference is 9.5 metres, the east-west spread is 22 metres, and the north-south spread is 18 metres.

It is classified as one of the five great cherry trees of Japan (日本五大桜) and one of the three giant cherry trees of Japan (日本三巨大桜). It was designated a national treasure in 1922. Polls frequently rank it as the number one tree in all of Japan.

Around 300,000 people visit the Miharu Takizakura every year, making it an important source of income for Miharu, which is otherwise a farming community.

The tree suffered some damage from heavy snow in January of 2005, breaking several branches; residents brushed off the snow and built wooden supports to limit damage. It was unharmed by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

Notes and references

• This article was partly translated from the Japanese Wikipedia article "三春滝桜".
• Danielle Demetriou, 1,000-year-old cherry tree gives hope to Japan nuclear victims, The Telegraph, 22 April 2011
• Hiroko Tabuchi, Cherry Blossoms on an Ancient Tree, but Nuclear Fears Keep Tourists Away, The New York Times, 26 April 2011

External links

• Miharu Takizakura, Tourism Information of Fukushima Prefecture