JAPANESE CULTURE, EXPLAINED
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Matsu is a Japanese name for pines, not a single species. Different pines appear in coastal planting, cultivated gardens, bonsai and New Year decorations. Pine groves also became subjects for ink-painted screens.
Japanese red pine, Pinus densiflora, and Japanese black pine, Pinus thunbergii, are separate species. The Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute describes red pine as generally a mountain tree with reddish-brown bark, and black pine as growing near coasts with darker trunks. The common names mematsu and omatsu do not mean these trees are the female and male of one species.
Black pine is used in coastal shelterbelts and as a landscape tree. Such uses help explain familiar pine-lined coastal views, but a location alone does not identify a specimen. Nor do these two species exhaust the category of pines. Its coastal use sits alongside cultivated examples in gardens and bonsai.
The tiers of branches and density of needles in a pine bonsai reflect repeated cultivation. Practitioner Shinto Kimiko describes removing some buds, cutting new growth and thinning needles. Her account distinguishes the treatment of red and black pine and adjusts work to the tree’s condition. These operations help maintain the density and silhouette of the crown.
Karasaki pine in Kenrokuen, Kanazawa, is a black pine. The garden association traces its cultivation to seeds brought from Karasaki beside Lake Biwa by the thirteenth lord Nariyasu. Ropes suspended from above support branches against Hokuriku’s heavy snow. The tree’s garden appearance includes a history of planting and seasonal maintenance.
The Hyogo shrine association explains kadomatsu as markers for welcoming the deity of the year. Pine can be combined with bamboo and other decorations. FFPRI identifies black pine as one pine used for this purpose. Neither source makes every arrangement identical, and the shrine association explicitly notes regional variation.
Hasegawa Tōhaku’s sixteenth-century Pine Trees is a pair of six-panel screens in ink on paper. The museum account discusses the range of brushwork, pale tree forms and blank areas that give the grove depth and atmosphere. Darker and lighter ink organise a space around the trees, making the grove more than a row of individually described specimens.
No. They are separate species despite common names that can suggest that pairing.
Cultivation and repeated maintenance contribute to the form on display.
No. Black pine is one documented example, not a rule covering all regional practice.