Bonsai appreciation: The yamadori stockpiled by a certain foreign digging master is truly enviable

As for the word "master," ever since masters started discussing life with young people so many times, it has taken on a slightly sleazy connotation. There are masters in making pots, masters in making bonsai, and even digging yamadori can make you a master. Of course, this digging master is a title I gave him, but if you saw the stock he has hoarded, you would agree. To become a digging master, you must have geographical advantage. Living in this guy's area, as long as you are interested, you can become an expert, because the material here is truly no joke - pot it up and it can go straight into an exhibition. In addition, you need physical strength. Digging pines is done at around 2000 m altitude, carrying tens of jin of stuff while climbing slopes and ridges - you cannot just stride effortlessly like flying whenever you want.

Yamadori is also a rare commodity worth hoarding. As long as you cultivate it and keep it alive, there will always be a day when it sells.

This is the guy who has persisted in digging yamadori for decades, digging and planting trees day after day for decades.

Digging yamadori is still somewhat dangerous, as the working environment like this is rather harsh. It is remote and rarely visited, with no phone signal. Once you get injured, or get bitten by a snake, or encounter a large felid, it is dicey.

These photos are evidence of the work on site.

Let's see why I call him a digging master. I do not know whether this beer brand paid him for advertising, but he insisted on putting a can beside it to show off.

Most of them are European black pine, mountain pine, larch, and the like