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The Japanese words of tree care, garden design, tree diagnosis and forestry, each defined in plain English.
Themes
Eight groups of words. Choose one, or search above.
How branches are cut, thinned and shaped.
clipped shrub pruning
Karikomi is the Japanese practice of shearing shrubs and trees into rounded, layered or mounded shapes with hedge shears. Western gardeners often call it cloud pruning. The shape is built up over many years by clipping the outer surface, and it is mostly applied to evergreens such as azalea, holly and pine. It differs from thinning, which works inside the crown rather than on its surface.
spring candle pinching of pines
Midori-tsumi is the spring pinching of a pine’s new shoots, called candles, by hand. The gardener removes or shortens each candle to slow growth, keep the crown compact and balance strong and weak branches. It is done once a year, around May to June, and it is one of the two core yearly pine tasks, together with momiage in autumn.
Also spelled: Midori tsumi
autumn needle plucking of pines
Momiage is the late-autumn plucking of old needles from pines by hand. By stripping needles from the underside and inside of each branch, the gardener lets light and air reach the inner crown and leaves a clear, open outline. It is usually done around November and December, and it pairs with midori-tsumi in spring as the second main yearly task on a garden pine.
water sprout
Tocho-shi is an abnormally long, soft and vigorous shoot that grows fast out of a branch or trunk. The closest Western term is water sprout. Because these shoots are weak-wooded and disturb the outline of the tree, Japanese pruning manuals list them among the branches that are normally removed in thinning.
Also spelled: Tochoshi
reduction cut
Kirikaeshi is a cut that shortens a long branch back to a shorter side branch, which then becomes the new tip. In Western terms it is a reduction cut, also called a drop-crotch cut. Japanese practice uses it to shrink a crown substantially, or to replace damaged or unsightly branches with younger growth.
parallel branches
Heiko-shi describes two branches that run in the same direction, one above the other. They compete for the same light and space, so Japanese pruning guides usually remove one of them. The term belongs to a standard list of branches that are normally taken out, together with crossing, downward and upright branches.
Also spelled: Heiko-eda
basal sprouts
Hikobae are shoots that rise from the base of a tree or from its roots near the ground. The name is written with characters meaning ’grandchildren growing’. They are usually removed because they crowd the foot of the trunk and spoil the clean line of the tree. The Western equivalent is a basal sprout or sucker.
downward-growing branch
Sakasa-eda is a branch that grows downward, or turns back into the crown against the tree’s natural habit. Because it crowds the interior and spoils the form, it is one of the branches Japanese gardeners normally remove when thinning. The name means ’upside-down branch’.
crown thinning
Sukashi is the Japanese method of thinning a crown by removing whole branches where they fork, so the tree keeps its natural outline while light and air reach the interior. The word means ’see-through’. It is graded in three levels, from coarse to fine: o-sukashi, naka-sukashi and ko-sukashi. Its nearest Western equivalent is crown thinning.
staged root pruning before transplanting
Nemawashi is root preparation done well before a tree is transplanted: roots are cut or ringed within the planned root ball, so that the tree grows fresh feeder roots close to the trunk. The work may be done in one pass or divided into stages. It is not the work of cutting the roots on the day of digging. In everyday Japanese the same word also means informal groundwork before a decision.
coarse thinning
O-sukashi is the coarsest level of thinning, in which part of a scaffold limb is removed at a fork. It changes the structure of the crown, so it is used when the framework needs to be reshaped. In the Saitama Prefecture street-tree pruning manual it is one of three levels, along with naka-sukashi and ko-sukashi.
large clipped mass of shrubs
O-karikomi is a large clipped mass of shrubs, such as azaleas, shaped as one flowing feature of a garden. Rather than shaping each plant separately, the gardener clips many plants together into one rolling mound or wave. It is mostly seen in larger gardens and parks.
Also spelled: Okarikomi
tree with separate clipped pads
Tamachirashi is a small tree whose branch ends are clipped into separate pads or balls, leaving the trunk and bare branches visible between them. Trees of this kind are often sold in Western nurseries as cloud-pruned. The shape is made over years with shears and is a common way of presenting pines, holly and similar evergreens.
medium thinning
Naka-sukashi is the middle level of thinning, in which some of the secondary branches that make up the middle of the crown are removed at their forks. Street-tree pruning in Japan is generally done as a combination of naka-sukashi and ko-sukashi. The term is also used for thinning a clipped shrub from the inside.
branch thinning
Eda-sukashi is the term used in the Saitama street-tree manual for branch thinning: removing crowded branches at a fork while keeping the structure of main, secondary and lateral branches. It is the manual’s name for what Western arborists call crown thinning, and it is the base for the three levels of sukashi.
scaffold limb
Shushi is a scaffold limb: a main branch that grows from the trunk and sets the outline of the crown. Secondary branches divide from it, and laterals divide from those. These three orders of branches, shushi, fuku-shushi and sokushi, are the vocabulary Japanese pruning manuals use to say which part of a crown is being cut.
secondary branch
Fuku-shushi is a secondary branch that divides from a scaffold limb. Together they form the middle part of the crown. It is the second of three branch orders used in Japanese pruning manuals, between shushi and sokushi, and it is the main target of naka-sukashi.
Also spelled: Fukushushi
lateral branch
Sokushi is a lateral: a fine branch that divides from the secondary branches and carries the outer foliage of the crown. It is the third and finest of the branch orders in Japanese pruning manuals, after shushi and fuku-shushi. Ko-sukashi, the lightest level of thinning, works mainly on these branches.
heading cut
Kiritsume is the shortening of a shoot partway along its length, usually just above a bud, so that new shoots rebuild the spread of the branch. It is the Japanese counterpart of a heading cut. Pruning manuals treat it as second-best to kirikaeshi, and shearing with hedge shears counts as one form of it.
removal cut
Eda-oroshi is the removal of a branch, usually a scaffold limb, at its base on the trunk. It is the Japanese counterpart of a removal cut. Because it takes off a whole limb and leaves a large wound, it is used sparingly, and the cut is made carefully outside the branch collar.
restrained pine thinning of Kyoto Gyoen
Gosho-sukashi is a very restrained style of thinning pines, associated with Kyoto Gyoen, the park around the former imperial palace in Kyoto. The work is done with blades fixed on long bamboo poles. Because the cutting is light, the pines keep a natural look while more light reaches the crown.
wound closure
Makikomi means ’rolling in’: the closing of a pruning wound as new woundwood advances inward from the edges of the cut. The new tissue grows only from living cambium and covers the wound without replacing the injured wood, which stays inside the trunk. The wound is closed, not healed in the way human skin heals.
wound paste
Yugozai is wound paste: a sealant or protective paste applied to pruning cuts and other tree wounds. In Japan some products are registered as agricultural chemicals and are also used in orchards. In one Japanese orchard trial, some pastes did worse than leaving the cut bare, so the effect depends on the product.
branches to be removed
Imi-eda means ’taboo branches’: branches that spoil the form of a tree and are removed in pruning. The group includes crossing, downward, upright, parallel and overly vigorous shoots. In practice it is a checklist that tells a gardener what to look for first when thinning a tree.
The trees, shrubs and forms of a Japanese garden.
Japanese garden trees
Niwaki is the general Japanese word for trees planted in a garden. In Japan many are shaped to follow the natural habit of each tree, but garden trees can also be clipped into rounded or geometric forms, as in karikomi. The word is literally ’garden tree’. Niwaki are often compared with Western topiary, which more often imposes a fixed shape.
potted miniature tree
Bonsai is a tree grown and shaped in a shallow pot as a single object, usually kept at a small size. It is distinct from niwaki, which are garden trees growing in the ground at full size. The two crafts share some techniques, such as candle pinching on pines, but a bonsai is checked and adjusted far more often.
Japanese black pine
Kuromatsu is the Japanese black pine (Pinus thunbergii), the standard pine of Japanese gardens and bonsai. It is trained with candle pinching in spring and needle plucking in autumn. It also grows wild along sandy coasts in Japan, where it is planted in long rows as a windbreak.
Japanese garden tree specialist
Niwashi is a garden tree specialist: a craftsperson who prunes, plants and maintains garden trees. In Japan the work usually sits within landscape contracting, and many niwashi train for years under a senior gardener. The word is often translated as gardener, but the role centres on trees and shrubs rather than flowers or lawns.
tree with raised roots
Neagari describes a tree form in which the roots rise above the ground, so that the trunk seems to stand on its own exposed root system. It is a recognised style in Japanese gardens and bonsai. The Neagari Goyomatsu, a famous pine at Ritsurin Garden in Takamatsu, takes its name from this form.
clipped hedge
Ikegaki is a clipped hedge, typically planted along a property line. It is kept tidy by regular shearing with hedge shears, so it is one of the most common everyday uses of karikomi. Many Japanese homes use an ikegaki instead of a wall or fence to mark the boundary and screen the garden from the street.
boxwood
Tsuge is Japanese boxwood (Buxus microphylla var. japonica), the classic clipping shrub of Japanese gardens, with small, dense leaves and a slow habit that suits precise shaping. In trade and daily speech the word is sometimes used for inutsuge, Japanese holly (Ilex crenata), which is a different plant, so the name alone does not identify the species.
tree arching over a gateway
Monkaburi describes a tree trained so that its branches reach over a gateway or entrance like a canopy. Pine is the usual choice, but other trees such as podocarpus (maki) are also trained this way. The shape is formed over many years by choosing and guiding one branch across the entrance.
Borrowed views, empty space and the ideas behind the garden.
borrowed scenery
Shakkei means ’borrowed scenery’: designing a garden so that a distant mountain, hill or other view becomes part of its composition. The designer frames the view with trees, walls or openings so that it seems to belong to the garden even though it lies outside it. The idea appears in the 17th-century Chinese garden treatise Yuanye and is widely used in Japanese garden design.
village woodland landscape
Satoyama is the semi-wild landscape between villages and deep forest, kept through long coexistence of people and nature. Woodland, paddy fields, ponds and grassland are managed together for firewood, food and water. The term is now also used in conservation, where satoyama is valued for its variety of wildlife.
nature; a tree’s own way of growing
Shizen usually means ’nature’, but in garden practice it describes the tree’s own way of growing, as opposed to a shape imposed on it. Japanese gardeners try to work with this natural habit, pruning so that the tree looks as though no one has touched it. The idea is what separates niwaki from many forms of Western topiary.
cherry blossom viewing
Hanami is the tradition of gathering to enjoy blossoms, most famously beneath blooming cherry trees. Flower viewing is recorded from the Nara period, when plum and peach blossoms were the main subjects. Cherry viewing as a ceremony is thought to have spread in the Heian period, and today people picnic under cherry trees each spring in parks, along rivers and at temples.
pathos of things
Mono no aware means ’the pathos of things’: the bittersweet awareness that beautiful things are fleeting. It is a long-standing theme in Japanese literature and art, and in gardens it is felt in the changing of the seasons. Cherry blossoms, which bloom for only a few days, are its best-known symbol.
dry landscape garden
Karesansui is a dry landscape garden in which rocks and raked gravel or sand suggest mountains, islands and water. No water is used. Karesansui gardens are closely associated with Zen temples, and the arrangement of rocks and raked patterns invites the viewer to see a whole landscape in a small space.
seeing one thing as another
Mitate means ’seeing one thing as another’. In gardens it is the practice of letting stones, sand or plants stand for something else, such as a mountain, a river or the sea. The viewer is asked to complete the image, which is why mitate is closely tied to dry landscape gardens.
three degrees of formality
Shin-gyo-so are three degrees of formality: formal (shin), semi-formal (gyo) and informal (so). They are borrowed from the styles of calligraphy and applied to gardens, tea rooms and paths. A garden, or part of it, can be designed in the formal, semi-formal or informal mode.
stone water basin of a tea garden
A tsukubai is a low stone basin where visitors crouch to wash their hands and rinse their mouths before a tea ceremony. It is set beside a tea garden path, and the name comes from the verb for crouching. Water may be supplied through a bamboo spout, or poured in from a bucket for a tea gathering.
forest bathing
Shinrin-yoku means ’forest bathing’: spending quiet time among trees for health and calm. The term comes from Japan and has since spread abroad as a wellness practice. Research on its effects on stress and mood is ongoing, and shrine groves are among the places where it is practised.
Ropes, straw and cages that carry trees through snow and frost.
snow rope support for trees
Yukitsuri is a seasonal frame of ropes that holds up the branches of garden trees, especially pines, against heavy snow. A tall pole is set beside the trunk, and ropes run from its top to the branches, so the weight of snow is carried by the frame rather than by the limbs. It is put up in autumn and taken down in spring, and the pines of Kenroku-en in Kanazawa are the best-known example.
apple-form snow rope support
Ringo-tsuri, ’apple suspension’, is the representative form of yukitsuri. A pole stands beside the trunk, and ropes radiate from the top of the pole to the branches. It is the form most often seen on pines in snowy regions, and the one most visitors recognise as a typical yukitsuri.
trunk-form snow rope support
Miki-tsuri, ’trunk suspension’, is a form of yukitsuri that uses no pole. The ropes are run from a point on the trunk itself to the branches. It is simpler to set up than ringo-tsuri because it needs no pole, and like all yukitsuri it is a seasonal structure taken down in spring.
snow cage for shrubs
Yukigakoi is a cage or screen of bamboo, boards or straw built around shrubs and small trees to shed snow. Instead of lifting branches, as yukitsuri does, it surrounds the plant and keeps heavy snow from pressing on it. Shrubs that cannot be roped up are often protected this way.
straw band on pine trunks
Komomaki is the winter practice of wrapping a straw band around a pine trunk. The band is put on in autumn and removed in early spring, and it is traditionally aimed at insects that spend the winter in the bark. It is a long-standing seasonal custom; whether it controls pests is not covered here.
core pole of a snow rope support
Shinbashira is the core pole in a yukitsuri: a tall post standing beside the trunk, taller than the tree itself, which collects the loads of all the ropes. The ropes run from its top down to the branches. It has to be set firmly, since the whole frame depends on it.
Shears, saws, tree supports, soils and workwear.
hand-forged edged tools
Uchihamono are hand-forged edged tools, made by heating steel and hammering it into shape rather than stamping it from sheet. The term covers knives, saws, shears, sickles and other blades. Regional centres of the craft include Yamagata, Sanjo and Banshu-Miki, each known for different kinds of tools.
gate-shaped tree support
A torii support is a tree support made of two or more posts set beside the trunk and joined by a crossbar, so that its shape recalls a shrine gate. It is a standard way of staking newly planted trees in Japan, and it is often seen on street trees. The tree is tied to the crossbar over a cushion of cedar bark.
hemp-palm rope
Shuro-nawa is black rope twisted from the fibre of the hemp palm (Trachycarpus fortunei). Japanese gardeners use it to tie tree supports and to finish rope work, often over a cushion of cedar bark. It is a natural material, and it is used where wire or nails would damage the bark.
Blue Paper steel
Aogami, or Blue Paper steel, is a high-carbon blade steel made at Yasugi in Shimane Prefecture. It adds chromium and tungsten to the carbon steel for wear resistance, so it cuts superbly and keeps an edge. The same hardness makes it harder to work, so blades in it cost more. The name comes from the colour of the wrapping paper, not from the metal.
garden snips
Ueki-basami are garden snips: small shears with loop handles and no spring, used for fine work on twigs and buds. Because there is no spring, the hand controls both opening and closing, which gives fine control. They differ from sentei-basami, which have a spring, and from karikomi-basami, which are long-bladed hedge shears.
hedge shears
Karikomi-basami are hedge shears held in both hands to cut a smooth clipped surface. The blades are long and typically slightly curved, so a stroke follows the curve of the plant. They are the main tool of karikomi, used on hedges, balls and mounded shrubs.
Also spelled: karikomi basami
red volcanic-ash soil
Akadama is sieved red volcanic-ash subsoil from the Kanto Loam region around Tokyo. It is sold in grades by grain size and is used as the base of a potting mix, especially for bonsai. It holds water while draining well, and it comes from the layer above the kanuma pumice.
hollow ground on the back of a blade
Ura-suki is a shallow hollow ground into the back of a cutting blade so that only the rim of the blade meets the sharpening stone. It makes resharpening quicker, because only the rim has to be worked. It is part of the blade geometry of Japanese pruning shears and other cutting tools.
three-legged stepladder
A sankyaku kyatatsu is a three-legged stepladder. It is standard equipment for clipped hedges and shrub masses, because its three legs let it stand firmly on uneven ground and between plants. Japanese gardeners use it for karikomi work that is too high to reach from the ground.
Also spelled: Tripod ladder
hip saw
A koshi-noko is a hip saw: a fixed blade carried in a sheath on the belt. It can be drawn and put away with one hand while the other hand holds the tree or ladder. Like most Japanese saws, it cuts on the pull stroke. Gardeners often carry it with a small folding saw for tight places.
White Paper steel
Shirogami, or White Paper steel, is a high-carbon blade steel made at Yasugi in Shimane Prefecture. It is hard and takes a keen edge. Its name comes from the colour of the paper in which the finished steel was wrapped, not from the metal itself. Aogami, Blue Paper steel, adds alloying elements for wear resistance.
bypass pruners
Sentei-basami are pruning shears for cutting branches up to about 2 to 2.5 cm thick. Most are spring-loaded bypass pruners, in which one blade passes beside the other like scissors, but anvil types, in which a blade presses onto a flat surface, are also sold as sentei-basami. They are the usual hand tool for pruning garden trees; thicker branches need a saw.
Also spelled: Senteibasami
closely set bamboo fence
Kenninji-gaki is a bamboo fence of closely set split bamboo, named after Kennin-ji temple in Kyoto. The bamboo is split in half and set upright with the rounded side outward, and it is held by horizontal rails. It makes a solid screen and is common along garden boundaries.
wide-legged work trousers
Tobi-zubon are wide-legged work trousers worn by tobi workers, who do high work on construction sites. They are loose through the thigh and taper tightly at the calf, which keeps the cloth from catching on scaffolding while allowing free movement. Many Japanese gardeners and arborists wear them.
Reading a tree’s health, and the rules that protect old trees.
certified tree specialist (Japanese qualification)
A Jumoku-i is a tree specialist certified by the Japan Greening Center, under a qualification created in the 1991 fiscal year for the diagnosis, treatment and preservation of trees. The system grew out of a project of the Forestry Agency. In February 2025 the qualification was also registered as a national qualification by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. It is separate from international arborist certifications, and the title is often translated as tree doctor.
Natural Monument
Tennen kinenbutsu, Natural Monument, is a designation for a living thing or natural feature that is protected as part of Japan’s cultural heritage. Designation can be made at the national, prefectural or municipal level. Many old trees at shrines and temples are Natural Monuments, and work on them normally needs permission from the authority concerned.
wooden diagnostic mallet
A kizuchi is a wooden mallet used to tap a trunk or large branch and interpret the sound that returns. As a rough guide, a sound trunk gives a dense, low thud and a hollow or decayed one a lighter, resonant knock, though the sound varies with species and the part tapped. The force of the blow is adjusted to the thickness of the bark, since a hard blow can still damage it.
trees that survived the atomic bombings
Hibakujumoku are trees that survived the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Many still stand in the two cities and are cared for as living witnesses. In surveys in Hiroshima, many undisturbed survivors were found leaning toward the hypocenter, carrying burn scars on the side that faced the blast.
tree vigour
Jusei is the overall vitality of a tree. It is judged from signs such as the condition of the crown tip, the amount and colour of the foliage, and the growth of new shoots. A tree with good jusei grows vigorously and recovers from damage, while one with weak jusei is declining. Judging jusei is a basic part of Japanese tree diagnosis.
steel probing rod
A kobo is a pointed steel rod pushed into the ground or into cavities around the root collar to feel the condition of the soil and the wood. Resistance, softness and the depth reached tell the inspector whether the wood is sound. It is a simple hand tool used together with the kizuchi in Japanese field diagnosis.
right tree, right place
Tekichi tekiboku means ’the right tree for the right place’: choosing a species by the conditions of the site rather than by appearance alone. Soil, light, space and climate all count, as does the size the tree will reach. Applying the idea early avoids many later problems with trees that outgrow their site.
Special Natural Monument
Tokubetsu tennen kinenbutsu, Special Natural Monument, is the highest national grade of protection for a natural feature in Japan. It is reserved for the most important natural monuments. The designation is made by the national government and covers only a small number of trees, animals and places.
percussion diagnosis
Daon shindan is percussion diagnosis: striking the trunk with a mallet and reading the sound to find cavities or decay. It is a quick first check that needs no equipment beyond a kizuchi. Where the sound suggests a problem, it is often followed by measurement with instruments.
tree diagnosis
Jumoku shindan is tree diagnosis: examining a tree’s health and structure before any treatment is decided. It starts with a visual inspection of the crown, trunk and roots. It may continue with hand methods such as sounding with a mallet, and with instruments such as a resistograph or a sonic tomograph.
giant tree
Kyoju means ’giant tree’. In the Ministry of the Environment’s national surveys of large trees, it is a tree whose trunk measures 3 m or more around at a height of 1.3 m. Kyoju are often old trees at shrines, temples and farms, and many of them are also protected as natural monuments or by local governments.
fallen tree
Toboku is a fallen tree, or the toppling of a tree. In Japan it is a growing concern as the large trees planted in numbers after the Second World War grow older and bigger. Falling usually results from several factors acting together, such as strong wind or snow, decay in the trunk or base, and damage to the root system. Falling street and park trees are a risk to people and property, so inspection of large trees has gained attention.
locally designated conservation tree
Hozonju is a notable tree designated for conservation. Some are designated under a national law of 1962 on preserving trees for urban scenery, others under local government ordinances. Rules, criteria and any support for the owner differ between systems and municipalities. In Tokyo, existing trees can also be considered for protection when land is developed, even if undesignated, so anyone planning work should ask the local office first.
Sacred trees, ropes and rites at shrines, and the cherry and the camphor.
sacred straw rope
A shimenawa is a rope of twisted straw tied round a tree, rock or gate to mark a place as sacred and clean. Strips of zigzag paper called shide often hang from it. When a rope is tied round a trunk, it shows that the tree is treated as a shinboku. How visitors should behave near it, such as whether touching is allowed, depends on the shrine.
Yoshino cherry
Somei-yoshino is the most widely planted cherry cultivar in Japan, common in city parks and along riverbanks. All trees descend from one original and are propagated vegetatively, usually by grafting but also by cuttings, so they are genetically identical clones. Their working life is usually counted in decades rather than centuries, unlike wild species such as Edohigan.
Also spelled: Somei Yoshino
sacred tree
A shinboku is a sacred tree that a community reveres as a place where a kami descends or dwells. Species and age alone do not make a tree sacred. A tree becomes shinboku through place, history, form and belief together. Such trees are often marked with a shimenawa and are by custom left untouched.
place a kami descends into
A yorishiro is a place or object that a kami descends into and dwells in, especially during a ritual. Trees and rocks can be yorishiro, and so can pillars or banners. Whether a tree is honoured as a place where a kami descends, or as the object in which a kami dwells (a goshintai), depends on the shrine and the local tradition.
Also spelled: 依代
shrine forest
Chinju no mori is the forest that surrounds a shrine, treated as sacred ground. Many Shinto shrines have such a grove, and cutting its trees has traditionally been avoided, although not every shrine has a surviving forest. Many of these groves hold patches of old forest in otherwise built-up areas.
sacred tree (honorific)
Goshinboku is the honorific form of shinboku, a tree regarded as sacred, for example because a kami is believed to dwell in it or because it serves as a shrine’s object of worship. It is the common spoken form. The word is not limited to one main tree of a shrine, and being left unfelled is not part of its meaning.
Also spelled: Goshimboku
Edo higan cherry
Edohigan is the Edo higan cherry (Prunus itosakura), the longest-lived cherry species in Japan. It is a wild species, not a grafted cultivar, and some individual trees are said to be well over a thousand years old. Many famous old cherries, such as weeping forms, are Edohigan.
Also spelled: Edo Higan
camphor tree
Kusunoki is the camphor tree (Cinnamomum camphora), a large evergreen that is often planted at Japanese shrines. Its great size and long life make it a typical shinboku, and many of Japan’s oldest and largest trees are camphors. In names, an old camphor is often called okusu, meaning great camphor.
family crest
A kamon is a Japanese family crest. Plants are the most common motif, including paulownia, hollyhock, wisteria, plum and bamboo. Crests appear on clothing, roof tiles and gravestones, and they influenced how some garden plants were chosen, planted and valued in Japanese landscape design.
New Year gate pine
Kadomatsu is a pine decoration set at the gate at New Year as a yorishiro for the year’s kami. Cut pine is combined with bamboo and straw, and the pair is displayed from late December until early January. It is one of the commonest everyday uses of a tree in Shinto custom.
ground-breaking rite
Jichinsai is a Shinto rite held before building starts, to calm the kami of the land and ask for safe work. A priest performs it on the site, usually within a space marked off by bamboo and a shimenawa. The rite is still common in Japan before houses and other buildings are built.
object in which a kami dwells
Goshintai is an object in which a kami is believed to dwell. It is the centre of worship at a shrine and is usually kept out of sight. A mountain, rock, mirror or old tree can be a goshintai. It differs from a yorishiro, which is a place a kami descends to for a time.
Kyoto cedar, polished logs and how timber trees are grown.
platform cedar
Daisugi is a Kitayama forestry method in which one rooted cedar stump is kept alive while several straight shoots grow from it and are cut in turn. The word means ’platform cedar’. The method yields slim, knot-free poles about 3 m long, and it is full-size forestry, not bonsai. Daisugi platforms are still pruned in Kyoto today.
Japanese cedar
Sugi is Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica), a tall evergreen conifer that is Japan’s most important plantation tree. It also grows as huge old trees at shrines and on Yakushima. Its straight trunk and easily worked, fragrant wood make it the standard timber for houses, tea rooms and temples.
rafters
Taruki are rafters: the slender timbers that run from the ridge to the eaves of a roof. They are the main use of daisugi timber, which is grown to a target of about 3 m long and 3 cm at the top end. In tea houses and sukiya-style buildings, rafters are often left exposed as finish timber.
wild layered multi-trunk cedar
Fukujo daisugi are wild multi-trunk cedars of Japan’s snow country. They form when snow presses a low branch to the ground and it takes root, so that several trunks come to stand around the original tree. They are a natural form, unlike the managed daisugi of Kitayama forestry.
single-stem cedar planting
Ippon-jitate is single-stem planting: growing each cedar as one trunk rather than from a shared stump. In Kitayama forestry growers shifted toward it from around 1900 to meet rising demand for polished logs. Single-stem stands are planted densely, pruned early and felled whole, and it is now the main method.
wild Yakushima cedars over about 1,000 years old
Yakusugi are Japanese cedars (Cryptomeria japonica) over about 1,000 years old that grow wild on Yakushima, an island off southern Kyushu; younger trees are called kosugi. They grow slowly on poor, granite-based soil in very heavy rain, and the dense, resin-rich wood resists decay. The best known is Jomon Sugi, one of the oldest living trees in Japan.
polished log
Migaki-maruta are polished logs of Kitayama cedar: straight, knot-free trunks whose bark has been removed and surface polished, traditionally with sand. They are prized in tea-house construction and in the alcoves of formal rooms, where the clean, even surface of the pole is part of the design. The best logs come from Kitayama, north of Kyoto.
tea-house style of architecture
Sukiya-zukuri is a refined style of Japanese architecture that grew out of the tea house. It favours natural materials, slender timbers and plain surfaces, and it often leaves round poles of Kitayama cedar exposed. Daisugi and Kitayama timber are closely tied to it.
branch removal in forestry
Eda-uchi is the removal of lower branches from a standing forestry tree to produce knot-free timber. Cutting the branches while they are still small lets the trunk grow clear wood over the scars. It is a regular task in managed cedar and cypress plantations, and it is part of how Kitayama cedar poles are made.
No terms match.
Try a shorter word, a Japanese character, or a different spelling (for example midori or 緑).
In brief
Short answers to the questions people ask most.
Karikomi is the Japanese practice of shearing shrubs and trees into rounded, layered or mounded shapes with hedge shears. Western gardeners often call it cloud pruning. The shape is built up over years by clipping the outer surface, mostly on evergreens. It differs from sukashi, which thins the crown from the inside.
Niwaki are garden trees growing in the ground at full size, while a bonsai is a tree shaped in a shallow pot as a single small object. The two crafts share some techniques, such as candle pinching on pines, but a bonsai is checked and adjusted far more often than a garden tree.
A shinboku is a sacred tree that a community reveres as a place where a kami descends or dwells. Species and age alone do not make a tree sacred; place, history, form and belief together do. Such trees are often marked with a shimenawa, a rope of twisted straw.
Tennen kinenbutsu, or Natural Monument, is a designation for a living thing or natural feature protected as part of Japan’s cultural heritage. The national system is run by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, and prefectures and municipalities designate their own. The highest national grade is Special Natural Monument.
Words are written in Hepburn romaji without macrons, so long vowels are not marked. Examples are Kyoju and Gairoju. The parts of a compound word that can stand alone are joined with a hyphen, as in Imi-eda. Each entry also gives the kanji, the hiragana reading and a short English equivalent.
The glossary has 131 terms in 8 themes, from pruning and tools to sacred trees and forestry. The definitions are based on field practice in Japan and on published literature, and where a Journal article covers a word, the glossary follows that article. Each entry has a fixed link you can share.
Words are written in Hepburn rōmaji without macrons: long vowels are not marked, and the parts of a compound word that can stand alone are joined with a hyphen (for example Imi-eda, Karikomi-basami). Each entry has a fixed link that you can share; use the # beside a word to copy it.
The definitions are based on field practice in Japan and on published literature, including Japanese prefectural and municipal manuals, forestry surveys and craft records. Where a word is explained in a Journal article, the glossary follows that article. I avoid dates and numbers that I cannot confirm, and entries on topics outside tree work are kept short.
If you find a mistake or a missing word, please tell me through the contact form.
Kasahara, I. (2026). Japanese Tree & Garden Glossary. Japan Blue Arborist. https://japanbluearborist.com/glossary/
To cite a single entry, add its link, for example https://japanbluearborist.com/glossary/#karikomi.
Last updated: . 131 terms in 8 themes.