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

MMaysonL about 3 hours ago 18 commentsRead Article on openculture.com

FR version is available. Content is displayed in original English for accuracy.

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

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Discussion (18 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

operation_moose•about 2 hours ago

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?

cwillu•about 2 hours ago

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

thrownawaysz•about 2 hours ago

>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

stymaar•about 1 hour ago

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.

WillAdams•about 1 hour ago

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

broken-kebab•about 2 hours ago

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

cwillu•about 2 hours ago

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

grey-area•about 2 hours ago

Yes it is.

ksymph•about 2 hours ago

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.

wxw•about 2 hours ago

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,

rdiddly•about 2 hours ago

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.

Fwirt•about 2 hours ago

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.

cineticdaffodil•about 2 hours ago

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?

rythmshifter•about 2 hours ago

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

ChrisArchitect•about 2 hours ago

(2020)

Some previous discussions:

2023: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37759366

2021: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26941631

gordonhart•about 2 hours ago

Interesting technique, horrible article. Manages to convey significantly less information than the X thread it mined for ad revenue.

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