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only
in japan for bonsai trees there's no
better place than omiya in saitama
prefecture
about 45 minutes away from tokyo near
toto station
is a museum in bonsai village a center
for bonsai for almost 100
years the open-air museum is an easy
stroll around a centuries-old bonsai
tree collection
inside there are history lessons in
english and special rooms to see bonsai
and japanese home environments
in japan the connection between man and
nature is very strong
welcome to the omiya bonsai art museum
this is a place where you can learn
about the history of bonsai there's a
beautiful one behind me
i wanted to come here to find out what
makes a bonsai tree so beautiful what
are some of the characteristics that
japanese
see in these trees that maybe we should
know when we see one
it's not the perfect day to go and see
them but we're here
for the biggest collaboration in youtube
history hashtag team
trees 20 million trees around the world
and we here in japan we love our trees
we're going to support that that's a
great thing a great cause and stay tuned
to the end of this video to learn how
you can do that
toto station welcomes you to bonsai town
japan an area inside omea
even in the rain it's really beautiful
to walk around this art museum
i mean trees need rain right the rain
can bring out the green color a little
more in the trees
darken the trunks see a different side
of them
bonsai is literally translated as tray
planting
the sizes vary from very small to well
over a meter in height
i learned that getting down and looking
up at the bonsai trees gives you a grand
view of it
although miniature in size they look
much bigger from this angle
i asked takanari-san from the omiya
bonsai art museum about what makes these
trees special
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i had come during a typhoon but that
didn't stop me from searching for that 1
000 year old bonsai tree
it's a lot smaller than i thought it
would be
this one bonsai tree is estimated to be
about a thousand years old
imagine it was alive during the
byzantine empire high middle ages before
the crusades
when the tale of genji was written the
trunk is split in the middle
the dead wood cascading out still looks
strong and lively
but how can a bonsai live in a pot for a
thousand years
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bonsai are more than just evergreens
this japanese maple called momiji is 150
years old
the trunk beautifully groomed surrounded
by moss
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this bonsai is growing out of a rock
this one looks small but if you look a
little closer it also resembles a giant
ancient forest
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here's a 120 year old japanese mountain
maple
when you look at it from below the
miniature shape of the trunk and
branches are symmetrically pleasing to
the eye
this one is 350 years old and called the
blue dragon
it's leaning far to the side getting
bigger at the end like the head of a
dragon
what do you think
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this 60 year old white pine is growing
out of a rock on a wooden tray
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this 40 year old miniature chinese
crabapple tree makes a colorful bonsai
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the shape size style and color of the
leaves and pot and the setting that it
sits in
all leave an impression on the beholder
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bonsai are small but powerful
66 of japan's lands are covered with
force but around the world it's 30
and decreasing many youtube creators
including me
are pushing hard to plant more trees 20
million more
and with your help we can do it or
donate to a team tree charity like arbor
day foundation
where every dollar plants a tree more
information on this in the video
description
trees are really important you can see
there's a big connection between trees
and japanese culture
the bonsai tree is that connection
between man and the natural world and
it's pretty cool
and i'm really proud to be part of this
collaboration team trees take a look at
the
link in the description to see what you
can do to help plant 20 million
trees around the world even if it's a
bonsai tree
because vaulted trees are still trees