The Takata Matsubara was planted by local merchant-magnate Kanno Mokunosuke in 1667, under the instruction of
Date Tsunamune, the
daimyō of
Sendai Domain, and initially consisted of 6200
Japanese red pine trees, and was intended to form a living
sea wall to protect the port village from high winds, high tides and
tsunami. The pine grove was expanded in the
Kyōhō period (1716–1736) by his son Shichizaemon and grandson Hachisaburo with an additional 70,000 trees, which were a mixture of Japanese red pine and
Japanese black pine along a two kilometer stretch of beach. The area was extolled for its scenic beauty and it became part of the
Rikuchū Kaigan National Park in 1964, drawing many thousands of visitors annually. The Takata Matsubara served its purpose on several occasions, protecting the settlement from tsunami caused by the
1896 Sanriku earthquake,
1933 Sanriku earthquake and the
1960 Valdivia earthquake. However, in the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the tsunami was over 10 meters in height at this location, and almost the entire grove was completely swept away, with the exception of
one lone pine tree. This lone survivor caught the public's imagination as a symbol of hope and was widely reported upon by newspapers worldwide. Also, since one tree survived, the official designation as a "Place of Scenic Beauty" was not revoked. The lone surviving pine died in December 2012 due to seawater contamination of the surrounding soil. Disaster recovery work began in December 2013 with the building of a new sea wall and restoration of the beach, which had been buried in meters of
silt. Cleanup efforts were hampered by fears that the wood of the fallen pines had been
contaminated by radiation. Tree planting events were held in 2017 and 2018, during which time 2500 pine seedlings were planted by volunteers. The area is now part of the
Sanriku Fukkō National Park. ==See also==