Daisugi, the Japanese technique of growing trees out of other trees (2020)

6/28/2026 at 4:46:16 PM

Isn't this just Pollarding and/or Coppicing, which have been practiced for at least 2000 years in Europe (and probably many other cultures as well), with a healthy dose of orientalism added on top?

by operation_moose

6/28/2026 at 5:22:09 PM

>with a healthy dose of orientalism added on top

Also known as 'Thing, Japan'. HN eats up articles like this every single week.

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/thing-japan

by thrownawaysz

6/28/2026 at 7:31:52 PM

This is such an interesting subtext. I think the original comment was a bit unfair to call it "just pollarding," at the least it's a very specific subtype that has its own culture and clear uniqueness.

Your comment feels somewhat reductive as well, you could basically replace "Japan" with a lot of things that are appreciated by some sizable subset of HN readers.

But, for some reason Japan does seem to inspire a certain fervor in both the otakus and weeaboos and their inverses. I think it's because it's the closest thing to an alien civilization for Westerners.

by jrowen

6/28/2026 at 8:09:02 PM

If it makes you feel any better, the reverse holds as well. Grass is greener mentality exists everywhere.

by chmod775

6/28/2026 at 5:28:11 PM

From the twitter thread this was stolen from:

“It is a little different, more like pollarding, and it doesn't work with any other conifers than saplings from one specific mutant cedar in a shrine near Kyoto.”

https://xcancel.com/wrathofgnon/status/1250287741247426565

by cwillu

6/28/2026 at 5:44:15 PM

Are coppicing and pollarding used at all to produce timber? I had the impression that it was done only to make firewood, and was cut repeatedly without letting it grow like described in the article.

by stymaar

6/28/2026 at 8:58:00 PM

Ben Law in the UK used a sweet chestnut coppice as timbers for his house. Done properly coppicing can not only produce renewable and sustainable timber, but it is one of the only woodland management techniques that has significant positive impact on the ecology of the woodland in which it is practiced.

https://ben-law.co.uk/

by jamiecurle

6/28/2026 at 6:03:41 PM

Coppicing is used for lumber for baskets and other weaving techniques, at least in Appalachia.

by WillAdams

6/28/2026 at 8:51:50 PM

Looks more advanced than simple pollarding. I have never seen this kind of straight, tall tree tops in Europe. If it exists I would like to know!

by Dibby053

6/28/2026 at 9:15:45 PM

It is more intensive and aesthetic but functionally I believe it’s exactly the same.

by dyauspitr

6/28/2026 at 5:27:12 PM

Yes, it's exactly it. But call it 'giant bonsai', and it sounds like a new discovery.

by broken-kebab

6/28/2026 at 5:29:17 PM

Well, except for the part where it depends on a mutation.

by cwillu

6/28/2026 at 5:58:13 PM

[dead]

by physicalecon

6/28/2026 at 5:21:55 PM

Yes it is.

by grey-area

6/28/2026 at 4:46:35 PM

The article is pretty light on details. Essentially, the tree is first pruned to create a wide and sturdy base; once that's stable, subsequent shoots from the branches are pruned to grow vertically. The technique relies on this particular variety of cedar which tends to grow vertically but can also be made to spread out a bit. It has some advantages in space-saving and efficiency but it's also very labor-intensive.

by ksymph

6/28/2026 at 4:42:23 PM

I don't quite understand -- what is it about this technique that makes the trees grow perfectly straight and why is

> the lumber produced in this method is 140% as flexible as standard cedar and 200% as dense/strong,

?

by wxw

6/28/2026 at 5:05:47 PM

This article is just a rehash or summary. Check out one of the sources it links to (since the other is broken) for details on the technique: https://mymodernmet.com/kitayama-cedar-daisugi/

The strength & flexibility I would guess are attributable to the lack of knots and the straightness of the grain.

One thing both writers keep doing that's annoying is calling it a cedar. The tree is cryptomeria japonica, known as sugi, which in English is sometimes known by various misnomers such as "Japanese cedar" and "Japanese redwood," both of which should be taken as more poetic than scientific.

by rdiddly

6/28/2026 at 4:49:41 PM

It’s exploiting the natural tendency of trees to create “waterspouts” through a technique called pollarding. When a tree suffers an injury it creates a bunch of new twigs that tend to grow straight upwards if the injury is on the upper branches. The waterspouts grow more slowly and so in this species of cedar they develop those desirable properties.

by Fwirt

6/28/2026 at 7:36:54 PM

It is actually a type of cypress, not a cedar.

by bgnn

6/28/2026 at 9:23:02 PM

I thought this was the name of a new startup

by backlit4034

6/28/2026 at 5:35:10 PM

Im confused.. wouldnt this be suspect to a weight limit - as the full stem would weigh on the carrying "tree" - especially during wind and storms?

by cineticdaffodil

6/28/2026 at 4:49:21 PM

An ad or something on this page attempted to load a link in an app I did not have