Dai means table, stand, stage, base, and so on. The ‘base’ trunk of the cedar can live to be 400 years old. From one trunk up to 10 small poles can be grown. These poles are smooth and are used in roof and ceiling construction.
Sugi means cedar in Japanese, and as we all know cedar trees produce especially long and straight lumber. However, cedar trees grown in Kitayama are different from other places. Tokonoma alcove is a small space in Japan traditional houses specially used to display aesthetic things. The things to display may vary starting from seasonal scrolls, flower arrangements or also called ikebana, and any other art objects.
Daisugi means ‘table cedar’ because this ancient bonsai technique makes the tree looks like we are putting something on a table made from the cedar tree. In daisugi, the cedar tree is pruned heavily in a special way that it forms a giant bonsai that produce shoots of straight cedar branches growing upward. For common people, the result will appear like we are growing cedar trees on the smaller cedar tree.
