In his travelogue "Tokyo Yugyo-ki" (A Travelogue of Tokyo), the renowned author Keigetsu Omachi wrote about "The Two Pine Trees" at "Zenyoji Temple" , stating, "The most spectacular sight of pine trees in the vicinity of Tokyo is this."

These "Two Pine Trees" are said to be the towering "Star-Falling Pine" and the horizontally spreading "Yougou no Matsu (The Iincredible Great Pine)" .

The "Yougou no Matsu" still remains today, its branches extending 30 meters in all directions, just as they did then. 　(Nihedon @ KesaranPasaran Lab)

A mysterious legend is associated with "Yogoh Pine." It concerns the "Yogoh Stone" located at the base of the tree.

The legend says that a thief who once broke into this temple and stole a statue of Fudo Myoo became trapped on this stone, unable to move.

In a sense, the "Yogoh Pine" "captured the thief".

Naturally, the thief was caught, and the statue was safely recovered.

The top surface of the "Yogoh Stone" has an indentation resembling a human footprint.

Unfortunately, the existing tree is not the original pine tree, but rather a second-generation one. The original tree withered and died in 1940 (Showa 15).

The original "Star-Falling Pine" has the following legend:

When Abbot Kenyu (later the head priest of this temple) was young, on the dawn after completing a certain ascetic practice, a "cobalt-colored star" fell onto the "Star-Falling Pine."

The abbot named it "Seiseishari" (Star Spirit Relic) and made it a temple treasure.

Since then, the temple's mountain name has been "Hoshijuzan" (Star Dwelling Mountain).

I'd love to see this "Seiseishari" someday.