The tree has thick cone-shaped branches with a trunk of about 62–73 centimeters in diameter. Spruces on Sakhalin grow as high as 17 meters, while some specimens growing on Japanese mountains are even 30 meters tall. Old trees’ bark is scaly and placoid and is colored in chocolate brown (this is the feature that distinguishes this species from others). Young sprouts are usually orange or wine red, haired in grooves and on stalk 1 millimeter in length. The buds are usually 3–7 millimeters long, nearly 5 millimeters wide and have a conical or ovoid form. The color of buds is reddish brown and they are slightly covered with resin. Their scales are triangle- or trigonal-shaped with a long awl-like tip.