Decorative, quickly growing tree with a straight, vertical, relatively slender trunk and a pyramidal growth habit. At a later stage the tree becomes broad pyramidal to irregular. The tree grows to an approximate height of 20 m and width of 10 m. The soft reddish brown bark is thick and peels off in long, thin strips. These are used for roof-covering in the area where the tree originally grew. At first, the branches grow horizontally, and later more upwards. The sickle-shaped, dark green needles grow in 5 spirals around the twig. In the winter, they turn bluish green to violet. Young specimens are sensitive to frost during harsh winters: older specimens are very hardy against frost. Heavy snowfall can cause branches to break. Does not tolerate harsh, dry wind well. There are many known cultivars of C. japonica, only about ten of which are generally cultivated. These differ from each other in terms of manner of growth, needle colour and texture.