Menuki with Japanese pine tree pattern.

Menuki Omote: Length 50mm, Width 13mm, height 3.5mm

Menuki Ura: Length 49.5mm, Width 12.5mm, height 4mm

The pine tree is an evergreen conifer that keeps its needles green all year round. It is a species that can live for a very long time in sometimes very difficult conditions, some 1000 years, even up to 5000 years.
Because of these characteristics, the pine tree is a symbol of virtue, youth, strength and longevity.
It is often associated with masculinity and power.

In Japan, it is customary to decorate entrances with a seasonal bouquet. For the New Year, the classic bouquet is the Kadomatsu 門松, the threshold pine. It is generally made of bamboo cut at an angle, and pine branches, with a few flowers.

With the plum tree, bamboo, and pine, they make up the 'Three friends of winter', called Shōchikubai 松竹梅. This term is also used as a quality scale, pine being the best quality, take being the intermediate quality, and plum being the lowest quality. When we talk about low quality, we are talking about an entry level in quality, not bad quality.

In Shinto, pine is a sacred tree, it is said that the deities descend from heaven through pines. We can see at the Kasuga Taisha Shrine, the pine 'Yogo No Matsu', through which the deity of the temple would descend into the world of humans.