These trees date back to the days of the Shogunate, when Matsudaira Masatsuna, a retainer of Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, had over 200,000 cedars plated over a 20-year period in the shrine's honor.
Many the trees standing today bear witness to their long and eventful history. One tree is still scarred by a cannonball fired during the Boshin War (1868–1869). Another, nicknamed "Nikko Namiki Taro," is considered the largest and most beautiful of all. "Sakura Sugi" (Cherry Pine) contains a wild cherry tree that grew out of a crack in its bark and which blooms magnificently in springtime.

The Nikko Cedar Avenue (Nikko Suginami Kaido) leading to Toshogu Shrine.
—Mellow Monk
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