It is native to southern Japan, where it occurs on the islands of Honshū and Shikoku.

The foliage forms in flat sprays with scale-like leaves 2–4 mm long, matte green above, and with narrow white stomatal bands below.

It is an important timber tree in Japan, grown in forestry plantations for its durable, waterproof, attractively scented wood.

It contains a compound called standishinal which has shown relatively potent effects on the enzyme aromatase.

This compound has been used in research and derivatives of it have shown even stronger inhibition of aromatase.