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Japan has a “Totoro Tree” that looks just like the Studio Ghibli anime star【Photos】

Casey Baseel Sep 30, 2020
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Kosugi no Osugi isn’t just cute, it’s sacred too.

Once you’ve watched anime classic My Neighbor Totoro, it’s hard to see woodland scenery in Japan and not be reminded of the lovable Studio Ghibli mascot. That mental connection is particularly strong, though, in Yamagata Prefecture’s Sakegawa Village.

As a rural town, Sakegawa doesn’t have a lot of sightseeing attractions, but it does have one claim to fame in its Kosugi neighborhood: a tree called Kosugi no Osugi (“The Great Cedar of Kosugi”). It’s also known by another name, though, the Totoro Cedar, because…well just look at it!

想像以上にトトロ (@ 小杉の大杉 (トトロの木) in 鮭川村, 山形県) https://t.co/PoRuf2YmTQ pic.twitter.com/vQMq2xatDi

— 参謀長@400X(NC47) (@nkrevi_naonao) August 2, 2020

With a roly-poly lower section tapering into a pair of ear-like points at the top, the Totoro Cedar bears an uncanny resemblance to Hayao Miyazaki’s cuddliest character.

ととろさん　…あいしゅう(哀愁)…
どうみてもトトロだね(^ ^)

Yamagata Prefecture／山形県鮭川村。星空を見上げるように立つ「小杉の大杉」。2つに枝分かれしていることから夫婦杉、縁結びの木、子宝の木といわれ、パワースポットとしても人気がある。と/sankei pic.twitter.com/jtG7GyKDs4

— 菊田邦洋✳️ (@palaiso9) September 27, 2020

The effect becomes even more striking after sundown, when shadows smooth out the contours of individual leaves, and once the silhouette becomes pitch-black, you’d be forgiven for thinking the anime character himself was coming to pay you a visit, like he did on that moonlit night when he planted garden seeds with sisters Mei and Satsuki.

https://twitter.com/tsumu_camera/status/1277454521204015106

#本日の天体写真
部員が収めた美しい天体写真をお届け！

タイトル:ひみつの夜
場所:小杉の大杉/鮭川村山形県

#おうちで新歓 #東北大学オンライン新歓 pic.twitter.com/UYPdODVTpP

— 東北大学天文同好会新歓 (@tenmonsinkan) June 15, 2020

Speaking of moments from the movie, many visitors to the Totoro Cedar bring along an umbrella, even on sunny days, so that they can recreate some of the atmosphere of the scene where the sisters and Totoro are waiting at the bus stop.

『芽がでろー』❗
山形県鮭川村トトロの木（小杉の大杉）#鮭川村 #山形県 pic.twitter.com/8KMMFkCKcr

— Dai (@EF8195riyu) July 7, 2020

鮭川村の小杉の大杉。
前歩いてたおじいちゃんがさんぽ歌ってて可愛かった。笑 pic.twitter.com/VKpgMUTHBS

— はち (@hacchiiiin) August 15, 2020

Recently, the Totoro Cedar has been getting a wave of attention online thanks to a new time-lapse video showing it on a starry night.

But in contrast to the anime’s events, this 20-meter (65.6-foot) tall tree didn’t instantly spring up by magic. Estimates place its age at roughly 1,000 years old, and its not just its age and anime resemblance that make it special.

For starters, the trunk is split into multiple shafts. Cedars that exhibit this characteristic are called fufu sugi, meaning “spouse cedars,” since the two sections of the trunk are joined in union, and are seen as imparting a blessing of happy romantic bonds upon lovers who visit them. The Totoro Cedar, though, has a three-pronged trunk, which some locals say symbolizes two parents and a child, making it even more auspicious.

https://twitter.com/Roxanne_3rd/status/1294157531191709696

However, some say that as the third prong has grown, it’s changed the appearance of the tree, making it look less “Totoro-like” than it used to, and wonder why the city doesn’t trim the third trunk section.

山形には通称「トトロの木」と呼ばれているスポットがあります。

なんでも、ご縁を結ぶ神木でもあるんだとか。

正式名称は「小杉の大杉」(曲川の大杉)。

いつか私も行ってみたいなぁ…🎶

拾い画像にて失礼いたします🙇‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/iGG2dqAh32

— 雪音(ユキト) (@zaffiro35) August 14, 2020

It turns out there’s a good reason: Japan’s indigenous Shinto religion teaches that there is divinity in nature, and the Totoro Cedar, like many trees of advanced age in Japan, is considered sacred. The city is thus reluctant to trim it for purely cosmetic reasons, and asks that people instead interpret the fuller dimensions caused by the third prong as a sign that Totoro is just a little plumper than he used to be.

Tree information
Kosugi no Osgui (Totoro Cedar) / 小杉の大杉（トトロの木）
Address: Yamagata-ken, Mogami-gun, Sakegawa-mura, Magarigawa 113-2
山形県最上郡鮭川村大字曲川113-2
Website

Sources: Sankei Biz, Sakegawa Village Tourism Information website
Top image: Sakegawa Village Tourism Information website
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