Tenku no Matsu (Pine in the Sky)

The “Pine in the sky” towers magnificently on the slope where the trees around Otaki Hot Spring village have been cut down. It is a “three-headed tree” with one trunk divided into three in the middle. It has been said that “A God dwells in a three-headed tree” nationwide and it is said that kikori (woodcutters) and matagi (traditional winter hunters in Tohoku) never cut down the pine tree as they enshrined the tree as “Mountain God”, so it grows into a giant tree. It is said that it is the largest Japanese red pine in the prefecture and the size of the three-headed tree is extremely rare in Japan.

 In 2011, the name of the pine tree was selected from 203 entries submitted from all over Japan, and it was named “Pine in the Sky”

Location: Junisho, Odate city