We went to the place where Sadao Yasumoro was creating a new garden for one of the visvim stores. This is the gardener we interviewed for issue 3 of this magazine.

He worked with famous architects such as Antonin Raymond, Kiyonori Kikutake and Togo Murano. Master Yasumoro is more than 80 years old today, he wore a visvim cap and gave instructions to the craftsmen one by one.

As he told in the interview with this magazine, Mr Yasumoro goes to the place every day and improvises his garden according to what he feels there. So there is no “plan” in his mind. That day, he asked to dig a hole in the garden to allow a river to flow, so they hurriedly used a shovel to remove the soil.

At the site, I noticed a tool with a long curved wooden handle and a flat chisel-like blade. Mr Yasumoro tells us that this is a tool called “chona”, which has been used for hundreds of years by shrine carpenters to cut the surface of pillars into scales. They are rarely used in modern constructions.

Even today, as I write this, the garden is changing every moment. I look forward to the day when I can see where the Oyakata (master) is going.