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Pines from Ritsurin Garden

December 11, 2012 by Jonas Dupuich

Apart from the overall beauty of the place, the most memorable feature of Ritsurin Garden its collection of pines. Each is old and well cared for, like Tsurukame-matsu (crane and tortoise) below. From the park brochure, “A black pine tree resembling the shape of a crane spreading its wings planted in a turtle-shaped stone planter made from 110 stone blocks.”

Tsurukame-matsu

Crane and tortoise

From a distance, the pines are collections of green puffs.

Pine

Pines along the pond

Up close, one can see evidence of the hard work that goes into these trees.

Pine

Well-developed branch pad – where are the old needles?

Collections of pads form the silhouette of each tree.

Pine

The soft outline of a black pine

The park has hundreds, if not thousands of pines. Somehow, each has received painstaking care to produce some of the greatest curated pine vistas I know of.

Pine

Small green clouds

Having pruned pines in landscapes for a number of years, I marveled at the resources required to maintain such a place. One famous path ran beneath a low canopy of pines that provided a great silhouette of the branches.

Pine

Cascading pine branches

Pine

Pine promenade

Occasionally red pines would dot the landscape.

Pine

Red pine bark

But more often the pines in the garden were black.

Pine

Black pine branches

One of the more famous trees at Ritsurin is a large white pine growing between the Kikugetsu-tei Teahouse and Nanko Lake. From a sign posted at its base, “Neagari Goyomatsu – This is a grown-up dwarfed pine transplanted from a flower pot to the ground. Ienari Tokugawa (the 11th Shogun) is said to have given the tree to Yohiro Matsudaira (the 9th lord) in 1832.”

White pine

Tokugawa’s gift – exposed root white pine

White pine

The exposed roots

Ritsurin is a pretty special place, reason alone to visit Shikoku. I can’t wait to get back.

Pine

Ritsurin Garden

Pine

Pine leaning over the water

✕

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Filed Under: Excursions Tagged With: Japan

Previous Post: « Ritsurin Garden
Next Post: Bonsai from Takasago-An at Ritsurin Garden »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. tmmason10 says

    December 11, 2012 at 4:17 am

    Beautiful. Thanks for the pictures.

  2. Frank Kelly says

    December 11, 2012 at 4:49 am

    Hi Jonas, thanks for this and earlier posts on your Japan trip. I was also fortunate to attend ASPAC 2011 and Taikan ten in Kyoto. These photos bring back many memories of the visit. I toured through Kyushu and around other towns and cities on Shikoku for 2 weeks before ASPAC. This short tour was barely enough to really soak up the beautiful country. It was my third visit to Japan and like you I can’t wait for my next adventure there. Thanks again and keep posting.

  3. F.Banuelos says

    December 11, 2012 at 5:53 am

    Thank you Jonas for your continuing and superb blog and sharing your photos. Outstanding!

  4. Russell says

    December 11, 2012 at 9:18 am

    Amazing. Thanks for the post

  5. Dana says

    December 11, 2012 at 4:53 pm

    WOW! Amazing how such a garden can exist because of the singular effort of many over generations. What a beautiful place.

  6. Steve Moore says

    December 13, 2012 at 4:15 am

    Wow! If/when I get to Japan, this place is at the top of my list, as of now.

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