Chapter VI. Mysterious Jade Connection
Tahei Suzuki first found Itoigawa Shimpaku junipers on Mt. Kurochime around
1908. Tahei's encounter with jade as he crossed a river to approach the
collecting area has been described as follows:
"The river was as clear as it could be, and it was almost scary. The man went through the quick current in the wake of the rainy season. In midstream, he almost fell and, as he did, he grabbed the bottom of the river. The water was up to his chin, but finally when he reached the other side, he found something hard in his hand. Its skin was so blue and smooth from being washed in the river. Putting the jade stone in his shirt, he crawled up the rocky cliff like a spider, and suddenly there were Shimpaku all around him!"
At the western foot of Mt. Kurohime (around the town of Hashidate) and at the southern foot of Mt. Myouji (around the town of Kotaki), there are places called the jade valleys, and even today you can see huge, heavy rocks of jade sitting there. You would not recognize the jade, however, if you were not told it was there. Like limestone or peridot, it just looks like an ordinary rock.
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When Tahei and Fukuji Suzuki left their native Iyo (the old name for Ehime Prefecture on Shikoku) and moved to the Northern Japanese Alps, their new homes were coincidentally at the foot of Mt. Kurohime and the foot of Mt. Myouji -- and both places are just next to the jade valleys. On the bottom of the Oumi River and the Kotaki River, both of which ran next to their houses, there must have been a lot of jade stones which tumbled down from upstream. Even though the brothers were attracted by the Shimpaku and not by the stones, they might have picked up some of the stones once in a while.
The color tone of Shimpaku and jade is mysteriously similar to each other. The whiteness of the Shimpaku's Shari, the redness of their trunks, and the greenness of their needles -- all of these are included in the colors of jade. Jade is generally thought to be an opaque stone with green color ("Hi" in the Japanese word "Hisui" means green), but actually there is jade with the color of black or even purple. What is more, some jade is pure white. Most jade has green dots appearing vaguely on its white or pale green base. However, because the surface may often be covered with a dirty brown skin from oxidation, it is difficult for a layman to recognize the stone.
Mt. Myouji today.
Even today you are allowed to collect the jade stones on the beach, but
you almost always are cheated and find only fake jade called Kitsune-ishi
(fox stone) which makes you happy for nothing at all. If the stone you find
is about the size of a nail, it could be authentic, but you will not find
any jade that will constitute a precious gem. This reality is similar to
trying to find naturally grown Shimpaku in the wild.
A jade collector once told me the following about the Shimpaku junipers growing in the jade areas: "Yes, the tree's roots sometimes bite into and wrap around the stones. We simply cut off the bothering trees." On the cliffs of Mt. Myouji, there seem to be Shimpaku entangling their roots around the huge stones. Completely and naturally, a rare tree and a piece of precious stone are united. Shimpaku is found by those looking for jade; jade is found by those looking for Shimpaku -- both are valuable gifts of nature. Two people thinking about their value may reach totally opposite conclusions. When I told the jade collector how much Shimpaku junipers are worth in the bonsai world, he laughed and replied: "Oh my, maybe I should throw away the stones from now on." But of course, he will choose the stone next time, too. Stone or tree, in either case the attraction runs deep and is hardly influenced by money.
In the Itoigawa area, there were other valuable items to be found. During the period from 1878 to around 1898, gold was extracted from the Kanayama-dani valley (closed in 1906). At that time, this small valley was very productive, and a mining tunnel as long as 80 kilometers was dug. Thousands of mine workers lived in the valley, and even a theater was opened. The valley also produced corundum, garnet, nephrite and so on. However, what brought the largest wealth was limestone which seems unlimited. Both Mt. Kurohime and Mt. Myouji can be said to be made of limestone, and from the Meiji era until today, these mountains continue to be mined. Here you can find suiseki from the Himekawa River. It has a texture of Hakkai-zan-ishi (Mt. Hakkai stone) which has a profound color of darkness with tasteful shapes of uneven surface.
Mt. Myouji is the peak on the left.