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Shrine Forests, Bonsai and Public Parks in Tokyo: Old Trees as Symbols of Continuity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Glenn Moore  and
Cassandra Atherton
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Abstract

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Ninety percent of Japanese people live in cities, seemingly disconnected from the agrarian world their ancestors inhabited in premodern Japan. Focussing on Tokyo, where the apparent disconnect with the past is most stark, this article looks at old trees in public parks, shrine forests, and old bonsai, and argues that that beneath the city's modern veneer, these trees allow residents to feel close to nature, and stay connected with the history, myths and traditions the trees evoke.

Keywords

JapanPublic ParksShrine ForestsBonsaiShinrin-yoku
Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 19 , Issue 6 , March 2021 , e3
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2021

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