June 28, 2026
Leaf it to the comments
Daisugi the Japanese Technique of Trees Out of Trees, Making Exact Straight Wood
Ancient “tree-on-tree” trick wowed readers — until the comments turned into a fact-check fight
TLDR: Daisugi is a 600-year-old Japanese way of growing straight timber from one cedar tree, created to save space and wood. Readers loved the idea but argued over whether it was truly unique, while others roasted the article for explaining almost nothing.
Japan’s centuries-old daisugi method sounds like something out of a fantasy garden: growers shape one cedar so it sprouts multiple perfectly straight shoots, creating strong, slim wood for elegant tea-house roofs. The original article pitches it as a genius answer to historic wood shortages in Kyoto — basically, a giant bonsai that prints lumber. And yes, the photos are gorgeous enough to make everyone briefly want to become a tree stylist.
But the real show started in the comments, where awe instantly collided with suspicion. One camp was fascinated but confused, bluntly asking: wait, why does this make the wood straighter and stronger? Another camp came in swinging with the hottest take of the thread: isn’t this just old European pollarding or coppicing with a layer of exotic hype slapped on top? Ouch. That accusation of “orientalism” turned a nice tree story into a mini culture-war over who invented what first.
Then came the article-dunking. One reader called the piece “interesting technique, horrible article,” complaining it explained less than the X thread it borrowed from. Another helpfully filled in the missing details, explaining that the base is trained wide and stable while new shoots are pruned upward. And in the funniest bit of accidental modern comedy, one user wasn’t mad about forestry at all — they were mad that an ad tried to open an app. In true internet fashion, the ancient tree technique impressed people; the website experience enraged them
Key Points
- •The article says daisugi emerged in Japan by or after the 15th century as a response to shortages of seedlings and available land for growing timber.
- •Daisugi is described as a forestry method that grows multiple straight vertical shoots from an existing cedar base, like a giant bonsai.
- •According to the article, the method produces straight, round timber called taruki used in the roofs of Japanese teahouses.
- •The article links the development of daisugi to Kyoto and to demand for ideal Kitayama cedar during the 16th century, when sukiya-zukuri architecture was fashionable.
- •The piece states that lumber from daisugi is more flexible, denser, stronger, and typhoon-resistant than standard cedar.