Forms selected for ornament and timber production long ago in China have been described as a distinct variety Cryptomeria japonica var.

Several fossil leafy shoots of †Cryptomeria yunnanensis have been described from Rupelian stage strata of the Lühe Basin in Yunnan, China.

[10] From the Neogene, Cryptomeria is well represented as seed cones, leafy shoots and wood in the fossil records of Europe and Japan.

[11] Cryptomeria japonica timber is extremely fragrant, weather and insect resistant, soft, and with a low density.

In Darjeeling district and Sikkim in India, where it is one of the most widely growing trees, C. japonica is called Dhuppi and is favoured for its light wood, extensively used in house building.

[14] Cryptomeria japonica is extensively used in forestry plantations in Japan, China and the Azores islands, and is widely cultivated as an ornamental tree in other temperate areas, including Britain, Europe, North America and eastern Himalaya regions of Nepal and India.

[24] Sargent (1894; The Forest Flora of Japan) recorded the instance of a daimyō (feudal lord) who was too poor to donate a stone lantern at the funeral of the shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616) at Nikkō Tōshō-gū, but requested instead to be allowed to plant an avenue of sugi, so that "future visitors might be protected from the heat of the sun".

The offer was accepted; the Cedar Avenue of Nikkō, which still exists, is over 65 km (40 mi) long, and "has not its equal in stately grandeur".

[25] Jōmon Sugi (縄文杉) is a large cryptomeria tree located on Yakushima, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Japan.

For instance, cryptomeria forests and their workers, located on the mountains north of Kyoto, are featured in Yasunari Kawabata's famous book The Old Capital.