MORIOKA, Iwate Prefecture--The sole pine tree left standing after the tsunami of 2011 engulfed a local beauty spot apparently was not as old as local tradition claimed.
MORIOKA, Iwate Prefecture--The sole pine tree left standing after the tsunami of 2011 engulfed a local beauty spot apparently was not as old as local tradition claimed.
It was said locally that the section of forest, in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, where the pine stood dated from the middle of the Edo Period (1603-1867), and that, therefore, the tree would have been about 270 years old.
But Takao Ito, professor emeritus of wood bioscience at Kyoto University, examined the sturdy survivor's growth rings and found it to be a century younger, roughly 173 years old.
"The pine had broad growth rings, so apparently it was in strong health as it grew," he said.
The tree became known in Japan as the "miracle pine" for withstanding the wall of water unleashed by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake that struck on March 11, 2011. The tree later died, but has now been preserved for permanent display, at considerable cost.
Until the disaster, there were 70,000 pines at the Takata-Matsubara pine forest, a scenic spot on the coast which was celebrated locally. The belief that planting began in the mid-Edo Period was shared by representatives of local advocacy group the Association for the Preservation of Takata-Matsubara.
Although admired for its tenacity, the tree ultimately died because its roots and needles could not cope with the highly saline conditions that the tsunami created. It was felled last September.
The Kyoto-based Yoshida Biological Laboratory used chemical treatments to preserve the trunk so that the tree could be re-erected as an enduring monument to the disaster. In the course of its work, the laboratory asked Ito to determine the tree's age.
On Feb. 26, Ito studied its growth rings at a plant in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, and determined that it likely began growing in 1839.
The laboratory plans to conduct additional microscope tests in early March to determine the age with further accuracy, because the trunk may have contained three or so false rings derived from adverse weather or insect infestation.