Geba Cherry Blossom in Kariyado

This single cherry tree in Fujinomiya City, Shizuoka Prefecture, is one of Japan’s oldest mountain cherry trees. Its official Japanese name is Akame-shiroba-yamazakura (meaning “red bud white-flowered mountain cherry”).

The large cherry tree, with branches stretching 14 meters, is characterized by red buds and white flowers, and is a national special natural treasure and one of the five most famous cherry trees in Japan.

It is said that this cherry tree is where Minamoto no Yoritomo stopped when he went on a Makigari hunt in 1193 at the foot of Mt. For this reason, it is also called “Kariyado no Geba-Zakura” (literally, the “Geba Cherry Blossom of the Hunting Camp”).

According to the legend, the horses were tied up under this cherry tree, hence the other name “Komadome-no-zakura. The tree is over 800 years old and blooms in mid-April.

The view of Mt. Fuji from this cherry tree has been selected as one of the “100 Sceneries with Mt.

Rape blossoms have been planted in the surrounding rice paddies, and the coexistence of cherry blossoms and rape blossoms can be seen, making this a poetic spring scene.

According to past records, the trunk circumference used to be 8.48 meters (3 shaku 6 sun) above the ground and the branching length was 21.81 meters (east-west) and 16.33 meters (north-south), but the tree has been weakened by typhoons.

The 15th Seiyo-tai shogun of the Edo Shogunate, Yoshinobu Tokugawa, wrote a poem about this cherry tree, and it is loved as a beautiful cherry tree that attracts the hearts of many people.

Aware, not only its pieces, but also the mountain cherry blossoms that connect the hearts of those who see them.
- Yoshinobu Tokugawa