(10) Fences and walls built around trees

Tokyo isn’t blessed with an abundance of trees in many parts of the city. In fact, you might come to the conclusion that the Japanese hate trees. It’s not true, just the natural conclusion of decades of urbanization (plus the fact that much of the city is built on reclaimed land, rice fields and farms that didn’t have had many trees in the first place).

Here’s something that speaks to a deep respect for trees: walls and fences that have been built around pre-existing trees.

These are new fences with thoughtful cut-outs built into the top:

A well-designed notch in the wall:

They even do this for dead trees:

And for REALLY dead trees:

An example from the old Mejiro Cultural Village:

Finally, a dramatic example in Kyoto, plus a refined example at the entrance of a traditional Japanese estate:

See also:

• Kayashima: The Japanese Train Station Built Around a 700 Year Old Tree; location: Kayashima Station 萱島駅, Osaka (map)
• Alaso in Osaka is Hattori-tenjin Station 服部天神駅 (map), which makes room for a camphor tree クスノキ (kusunoki):

昨夜のテレビ番組に登場したわけではありませんが、阪急電鉄・服部天神駅を突き抜けているクスノキです。 pic.twitter.com/nJY4yveMkn

— 阪急電鉄 【公式】 (@hankyu_ex) June 8, 2016

and

阪急電鉄・服部天神駅のクスノキ（足の神様「服部天神宮」の御神木)。ホーム上からはこんな感じで見ることができます。 pic.twitter.com/fPt0OPFiQK

— 阪急電鉄 【公式】 (@hankyu_ex) June 8, 2016