"A Tree Falls Alone"
The Economist, March 31, 2010
"An Easter story from Japan"
. . .
East Asia Forum, April 27, 2012
"Ozawa Ichiro: more shadow than shadow shogun"
The Economist, June 30, 2012
"A shadow of a shogun"
In two years, I have graduated from "the writer of a blog" to "a pundit."
If keep my temper in check I might someday even have a name.
. . .
I paid a visit to Kamakura's Tsurugaoka Hashimangu the other day, to check up on the attempts to revive The Tree. I am not sure how the cloning process is progressing (I would guess that it is progressing rather well) but the results of other two methods being employed -- planting a section of the trunk into the ground and encouraging the bare root to send up new shoots -- were less than reassuring. The trunk had only a few lonely leaves poking out from out its bark, while the shoots from the root stock looked far too short and emaciated for two year's worth of effort.
Still, the presence of any green at all prompted my traveling companion to shout, "Ganbare icho!"
Ginkgos (icho - Gingko biloba) are incredibly tough trees, based upon a design that has remained largely unchanged for over 250 million years. They have numerous strategies for reestablishing themselves after suffering staggering levels of damage.
Time and patience may prove my "wistful" farewell premature.