Yōgō no Matsu, Giant pine tree at Zen'yō-ji Temple in Higashi-Koiwa, Japan.
Yōgō no Matsu is a black pine tree growing in the grounds of Zen'yō-ji Temple in Higashi-Koiwa, Tokyo, and is designated a Natural Monument of Japan. Its branches spread far in every direction and are held up by a system of wooden supports to keep them from bending to the ground.
The tree is over 600 years old and was already standing when Zen'yō-ji Temple was founded in the 16th century. The religious site was built around it, which means the pine predates the temple itself.
The grounds of Zen'yō-ji hold 88 small stone shrines, each filled with soil from one stop along the Shikoku pilgrimage route. Walking past all of them is considered a way to symbolically complete the full pilgrimage without leaving Tokyo.
The temple sits in a low-key residential area and is freely accessible during daylight hours. The tree is easy to spot as soon as you enter the grounds, since its branches cover a large part of the courtyard.
The name Yōgō refers to a deity taking form in the physical world, which means the tree itself is considered a divine presence rather than just a living organism. This is one of the rare cases in Japan where a tree carries a name drawn from theological vocabulary.
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