There is a tree growing on American soil that is familiar to everyone living in Japan, yet is virtually unknown to the rest of the world. The 130 year-old Monkeypod has been a living symbol for the Hitachi Group Corporation since 1973. It can be found in the privately-owned (open to the public), Moanalua Gardens on the island of Oahu in the Hawaiian islands. Every day, busloads of Japanese tourists take a photo of themselves in front of it. Here is the 9th generation of the Hitachi brand television commercial:

The tree is a 82 feet (25m) tall and 131 feet (40m) wide Albizia saman, and commonly referred to as a ‘Monkeypod’ or ‘Rain’ tree. While there are many other monkeypod trees around it, this one in particular has beautiful proportions and shape. I’ve been to visit the tree and the gardens several times over the years while visiting my family on Oahu. From a distance, the trees almost look like cartoons, with their oversized canopies forming perfect umbrella shapes. Up close, the trunks are massively thick with a rough, tough skin. Looking up, you can follow each branch up and out as it divides, and divides again, until reaching the single-layer canopy of green leaves. These leaves curl up and close every evening, which allows the rain to reach the ground beneath it. The gardens are serene and lush, despite some nearby freeway noise. The koi ponds are nearly overflowing with fish, and the deteriorating historic cottage buildings on the grounds provide a sense of place and history.

First featured in a TV commercial for Hitachi in 1973, the tree symbolized the “comprehensive drive” and “wide business range” of the Hitachi Group. The owner of the Moanalua Gardens, Kaimana Ventures Ltd., reportedly negotiated a 10-year deal worth $4 million in 2007 with Hitachi to use the tree in their corporate advertising. The park grounds were the original home of Prince Lot Kapuaiwa, who would later become King Kamehameha V of the Hawaiian Islands. Eventually passed down to a local businessman, Samuel Mills Damon, by a royal decendant of the King, the park is now owned by Kamaina Ventures, whose president is a decendent of Damon.

The Hitachi website states, “Over the past 35 years, the Hitachi Tree has become a valuable Hitachi Group asset as a familiar and respected image in Hitachi’s expanding messages globally… The tree is widely recognized, especially in Japan, and has become an important symbol of the Hitachi Group’s reliability, and earth-friendliness.” The Hitachi Group is best know for its consumer electronic goods, but extends it’s brand into consulting, construction, auto, rail and financial systems and services, representing over 300,000 employees globally.

Other famous Monkeypod trees in Hawaii: In 2005, the artist Shepard Fairey took part in the Contemporary Museum of Honolulu’s “Catalyst Artist in Residence” program. As part of his installation for this program, Shepard decorated a monkey pod tree on the grounds of the museum with some Hawaiian quilt-inspired floral pattern prints. This installation was the basis for a series of limited-edition prints.