On a hot August day last year I took the train and tram to Sakai City in the south of Osaka. I wanted to see the ancient Japanese sago palm (sotetsu, Cycas revoluta), a member of the Cycad family, which grows in the grounds of Myokokuji Temple. The temple was first built in 1562 by a wealthy merchant called Aburaya, on land donated by Miyoshi Yukiyasu, who was ruler of Settsu, Kawachi and Izumi (present-day Osaka and Hyogo prefectures). The temple was also designated as an imperial temple. At a later date more land was donated by the Toyotomi and Tokugawa families.

In 1924, during the reign of Emperor Taisho, the Myokokuji Temple cycad was designated a natural monument. It is reckoned to be over 1,000 years old, has a diameter of over 1.7 meters and is 7 meters high -- perhaps the largest in the world, a candidate for the Guinness Book of Records! When Oda Nobunaga won supremacy (1568-1582) he is reported to have removed the cycad from Myokokuji and brought it to Azuchi Castle. According to legend, each night the tree would cry so loudly that Nobunaga gave it back to Myokokuji, where it has remained ever since.

Sotetsu are commonly planted in gardens and temples in the warmer regions of Japan. They give an almost tropical feeling to any garden, and they also grow well in containers. Dwarf forms of sotetsu are used for bonsai; variegated (fuiri) and cristata forms are also cultivated. Sotetsu are able to withstand dryness and survive well with little fertilizer.