Typhoon Shanshan destroys Japan’s 3,000-year-old ‘Princess Mononoke’ tree

Typhoon Shanshan, also known as Typhoon No. 10 in Japan’s numerical naming system, tore a 3,000-year-old Yayoi Sugi (Yayoi Cedar) tree — believed to be the inspiration for Studio Ghibli’s “Princess Mononoke” — in half while leaving a trail of destruction across Japan’s southwestern areas last week.

Several tour guides confirmed the destruction of the tree located in the Shiratani Unsuikyo scenic spot on the island of Yakushima on Aug. 31. The Yayoi Cedar, once 26 meters tall and 8 meters around its trunk, was estimated to date back to the Yayoi Pottery Culture Period between 1000 B.C. and 250 A.D. Meanwhile, around 1,000 homes were destroyed, more than 120 people were injured and at least seven people have been confirmed dead since Shanshan, which has now been downgraded to a tropical storm, made landfall in southwestern Japan on Aug. 29.