>with a healthy dose of orientalism added on top
replyAlso known as 'Thing, Japan'. HN eats up articles like this every single week.
If it makes you feel any better, the reverse holds as well. Grass is greener mentality exists everywhere.
replyThis 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.
replyYour 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.
From the twitter thread this was stolen from:
reply“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.”
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.
replyCoppicing is used for lumber for baskets and other weaving techniques, at least in Appalachia.
replyYes, it's exactly it. But call it 'giant bonsai', and it sounds like a new discovery.
replyWell, except for the part where it depends on a mutation.
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replyYes it is.
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