Awesome Conservation
I was on my way to Konami Sports gym in Maruyama Class the other day when I found some workers bustling around a large tree. It was night time and they had a number of lights set up around the tree. 
I decided to investigate and was quite surprised to see what they were actually doing.
They had dug around the tree and wrapped up the roots to transfer it to a new location in Chou-ku (18 Chome is what told me). A crane and truck were posed ready to handle the imminent departure of the tree. I stopped to talk and laugh with the workers about the feat they were about to perform. 『すごいね！』 They, too, seemed pretty surprised they were doing it even though it was obvious they had done this kind of job before. You just had to laugh because it looked so awesome. The workers all seemed in good spirits, pleased with what they were about to achieve, and happy to have people look on in wonder.
I wanted to wait but they said it was going to take another 30 minutes as they were waiting for official clearance to move it. Later I heard some noise from the car park at Maruyama Class and though "Could it be?" I climbed up to look over from the roof and shot this.
You can see that by this time, they have already used the crane to load the tree on onto the truck and it's laying on the back. Cool!
The result:
GONE! To look you'd never even know. WOW!
COMMENT:
You've got to admit it's pretty cool to see this kind of conservation taking place in urban settings, despite how ironic the reality of that statement is. These workers were really into it which I thought I was really cool. They seemed proud of what they were doing.
It's so much better to see people put money and effort into saving nature rather than destroying it. To have heard this tree being cut down would have really hurt. I saw and heard a large section of forest cut and pulled down out in Niseko two years ago and it hurt. I stood with myJapanese neighbour and watched as we saw machinery snap trees in half like disposable chopsticks. The sound was the worst thing. To hear those beautiful trees snapped in half ripped through your soul. Bummer. I couldn't go back there for about three weeks. They have moved now but there was an elderly couple who used to walk up that road everyday for years and years with their dog in the afternoon. Everyday. Imagine how they felt when this happened. It was sad. The forest there was especially beautiful in the autumn when the colours would change. One tree used to have a vine wrapped around it that would come up all in yellow while the leaves of the tree turned red. There were purple, oranges, reds, yellows It was a special spot. Unfortunately, since then nothing has really been done with the land. Yet another good property investment I presume. Bummer.
I decided to investigate and was quite surprised to see what they were actually doing.
They had dug around the tree and wrapped up the roots to transfer it to a new location in Chou-ku (18 Chome is what told me). A crane and truck were posed ready to handle the imminent departure of the tree. I stopped to talk and laugh with the workers about the feat they were about to perform. 『すごいね！』 They, too, seemed pretty surprised they were doing it even though it was obvious they had done this kind of job before. You just had to laugh because it looked so awesome. The workers all seemed in good spirits, pleased with what they were about to achieve, and happy to have people look on in wonder.
I wanted to wait but they said it was going to take another 30 minutes as they were waiting for official clearance to move it. Later I heard some noise from the car park at Maruyama Class and though "Could it be?" I climbed up to look over from the roof and shot this.
You can see that by this time, they have already used the crane to load the tree on onto the truck and it's laying on the back. Cool!
The result:
GONE! To look you'd never even know. WOW!
COMMENT:
You've got to admit it's pretty cool to see this kind of conservation taking place in urban settings, despite how ironic the reality of that statement is. These workers were really into it which I thought I was really cool. They seemed proud of what they were doing.
It's so much better to see people put money and effort into saving nature rather than destroying it. To have heard this tree being cut down would have really hurt. I saw and heard a large section of forest cut and pulled down out in Niseko two years ago and it hurt. I stood with myJapanese neighbour and watched as we saw machinery snap trees in half like disposable chopsticks. The sound was the worst thing. To hear those beautiful trees snapped in half ripped through your soul. Bummer. I couldn't go back there for about three weeks. They have moved now but there was an elderly couple who used to walk up that road everyday for years and years with their dog in the afternoon. Everyday. Imagine how they felt when this happened. It was sad. The forest there was especially beautiful in the autumn when the colours would change. One tree used to have a vine wrapped around it that would come up all in yellow while the leaves of the tree turned red. There were purple, oranges, reds, yellows It was a special spot. Unfortunately, since then nothing has really been done with the land. Yet another good property investment I presume. Bummer.