Japan is home to a total of 64,479 "giant trees," with the largest specimen -- located at a temple in Kamo, Kagoshima Prefecture -- boasting a girth of 24.22 meters, according to an Environment Ministry survey released Thursday.
A total of 10,367 new trees meeting set criteria -- a three-meter circumference measured at least 130 cm from the ground -- were added to 55,798 trees counted in the first survey conducted in 1988.
However, at least 1,660 of the trees registered in the 1988 survey have since died or been felled. Tokyo recorded the highest number of giant tress at 3,799, replacing Ibaraki Prefecture, which held the top spot in the first survey. Chiba Prefecture finished in third place.
By municipality, the town of Okutama in western Tokyo came first with 891 giant trees, up from 35 in the 1988 survey. In central Tokyo, Setagaya Ward had the highest number of large trees with 220, ahead of Bunkyo and Minato wards.
Japanese cedars were the most commonly listed species with 14,869 making the giant-tree list, or 23 percent of the total, while zelkova and camphor trees came a distant second and third. More than 500 species of trees were reported in the survey.
Of the total, 57 percent were located in temples, while 20 percent were on private property.
Municipal governments helped spur interest in giant trees, encouraging members of the public to report sightings. Reports of giant trees spotted on mountains and islands led to a jump in the tree tally, officials said.
Tokyo's Mikura Island was confirmed as home to 649 giant trees, the nation's largest sudashi tree among them, up from four trees in the 1988 survey. Record-setting hackberry, beech, katsura and mizunara trees were also discovered.
The data is to be compiled in a final report by the end of the year, ministry officials said.