Visit Japan Web Cedar Avenue of Nikko
Visit Japan Web invites you to explore Cedar Avenue of Nikko. These roads are the NikkoKaido, Nikko Reiheishi Kaido, and Aizu Nishi Kaido. The 13,000 cryptomeria trees lining a total of 35.41 kilometers of these roads. They create an impressive approach to the Shrines and Temples of Nikko.
Although not a continuous road, the “Cedar Avenue of Nikko” was recognized in the 1996 Guinness Book of World Records as the longest tree-lined avenue globally. The Japanese Government designated it as both a Special Historic Site and a Special Natural Monument.
During the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate maintained a network of highways across Japan, including the Edo Five Routes, which connected the Shogun’s capital of Edo with the provinces.
The roads leading to Nikko were designated with ichirizuka markers to indicate distance. There are trees, typically Japanese red pine or cryptomeria offering shade to travelers. These routes held great significance for the Shogunate as they led to the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Tokugawa Iemitsu. It’s a pilgrimage site for numerous Shogun and influential daimyo.
The initiative to plant cryptomeria along the approaches to Nikko came from Matsudaira Masatsuna. He’s the daimyo of Tamanawa Domain in Sagami Province and a descendant of a cadet branch of the Matsudaira clan. He commenced the donation and planting of seedlings brought from Kii Province around the year 1625. Following the Meiji Restoration, the trees faced the threat of neglect and logging. But around 12,500 trees have survived to the present day.
