Jack Kunitomi (92) standing beneath the Aoyama Tree in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. Kunitomi lived close to the old Koyasan Temple as a child, and remembers climbing the tree as a boy.

On July 17, 2008, the Aoyama Tree was dedicated a living Historic Cultural Monument by the City of Los Angeles. The tree, a Moreton Bay Fig, was planted in 1920 outside of the former Koyasan Buddhist Temple.