Though rare, Nikko fir has also been grown in other arboreta and research collections in Finland. In recent years it has been imported from Central Europe, mainly for planting in private gardens, but so far no overall picture has formed about how successful, or how popular, it is in comparison with other more widely grown firs.
Nikko fir is native to all the main islands of Japan excepting Hokkaido, the northernmost. It thrives in the mountains at elevations 1000-1800m, higher than its near relation, the Momi fir (A. firma), but lower than the Veitch and Maries firs (A. veitchii and A. mariesii). The bark turns rough with increasing age, the crown coarser, like the Momi and Manchurian (A. holophylla) firs, and the branches are “Japanese-style” angled upwards.