[5][6][7] Preserved as a permanent reminder of the Great East Japan Earthquake,[8][9] it died shortly after the tsunami due to exposure to saltwater.

[12] This lone survivor caught the public's imagination as a symbol of hope and was widely reported upon by newspapers worldwide.

The lone surviving pine died in December 2012 due to seawater contamination of the surrounding soil.

Disaster recovery work began in December 2013 with the building of a new sea wall and restoration of the beach, which had been buried in meters of silt.

Cleanup efforts were hampered by fears that the wood of the fallen pines had been contaminated by radiation effects from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.