Kamo no Ogusu

Locally knownKnown to people who live here. Not in the international guidebooks.

Researched and written by Hinato

Kamo no Ogusulargest tree in JapancamphorAiraSpecial Natural Monument

Kagoshima · Aira

31.7665°N, 130.5786°E

Not every sacred site in Kagoshima draws a crowd. Kamo no Ogusu is one of the ones that doesn't need to.

The largest tree in Japan stands in a shrine compound in a small town in Aira.

The numbers do not prepare you. The base is a mass of buttressed root with a hollow inside it large enough to stand in, and the crown covers most of the shrine forecourt. The local story is that the priest Wake no Kiyomaro stuck his staff in the ground here and it took root. Entry is free and it takes twenty minutes.

Plan your visit

Time to allow

20–40 minutes | Half a day with the Kamo old town

Hours

Shrine grounds open during daylight hours

Closed: Open year-round

Admission

Free

Best season

Year-round

Getting there

Directions

Kamo-cho, Aira, in the grounds of Kamo Hachiman Shrine. Car recommended; Aira is easily reached from Kagoshima city, the expressway and Kagoshima Airport. Free to visit. Phone.

Visiting etiquette & tips

**Walk right round the base.** The buttressed root mass and the hollow inside it are the reason the numbers are what they are, and they are only legible from close up and from behind. **Twenty minutes, so combine it.** The old town of Kamo around the shrine has preserved streets, a stone-walled samurai quarter and a couple of small museums, which turns a single tree into a half-day. **It is free and always open.** No ticket, no gate, no schedule. **Fifteen minutes from the expressway.** Aira sits between Kagoshima city and Kirishima, which makes this an easy stop when driving between them or to the airport. **Do not climb on the roots.** The tree is a Special Natural Monument and the root plate is what is being protected. Stay on the paving.

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