Article from Hokkaido Shinbun Newspaper, Japan. October 15, 2009 “Kenna’s Tree” Disappears Internationally acclaimed landscape photographer Michael Kenna (55), born in the U.K. but residing in the U.S., has always called this tree “My love”. It was an old tree standing in the Sunayu campground in Teshikaga-cho, within the Kushiro jurisdiction, which was felled at the beginning of August by the Natural Parks Foundation (headquarters in Tokyo) because of fears over the tree’s stability. As it was a hidden gem, known as “Kenna’s Tree” among photography fans, there has been considerable disappointment over its disappearance. The tree was known to be a Japanese Oak (Quercus crispula) and exhibited a wondrous shape, leaning down as it did towards Kussharo Lake. When Kenna came to Hokkaido in 2002, he took an immediate liking to the tree’s unique character, and returned nearly every year to photograph it. Some of these photographs were included in his book of photography, Hokkaido, and were also used in a poster by Louis Vuitton. Underlying the area of Sunayu is a hard bedrock layer, which prevents trees from developing deep root systems, making them vulnerable to strong winds. The roots of this old tree had become exposed and it stood there half-dead for the past few years. This led the Natural Parks Foundation to consider the possibility of cutting it down. The campground is within Akan National Park, a specially designated area that restricts the felling of trees. Yet they were able to cut it down after receiving approval from the Kawayu Nature Conservation Office of the Ministry of Environment, due to the tree posing a threat to public safety. Shiozawa Norio, head of the Kawayu branch of the Foundation, explains “I didn’t know it was a famous tree. But public safety is our top priority, so we had no choice”. According to Kato Tsuyoshi (44) of Otaru city, the location-coordinator who has been accompanying Kenna on his Hokkaido trips since 2004, Kenna treated this tree as if it was his girlfriend, referring to it as “My love”. When Kato gave the news of the tree’s demise to Kenna on a recent photo-trip, Kenna posted 9 photographs of this tree on the front page of his website. Kato comments, “Although Michael didn’t verbalize it, this act must have been his way of paying homage to the tree”. Fukuchi Daisuke, curator of the Kushiro Art Museum, Hokkaido, which is currently exhibiting Kenna’s work (until Nov. 11th), says “This was probably the only subject he repeatedly photographed in Hokkaido. It’s a shame it was felled when it was the kind of subject that symbolized Kenna’s sense of aesthetics”.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:30:28 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015