The Osaka City University Botanical Gardens held its annual workshop to make mini “kadomatsu” (decorative pine trees) on Thursday 26 December, 2019. This popular event which always fills up saw this year being the quickest ever. In approximately three days the sign up capped at 34 participants, all of whom thoroughly enjoyed the event.

More than half of the participants were elementary school children and their jolly voices spread throughout the classroom where the workshop was held. The popularity of the workshop caught the attention of the radio station FM Hirakata, and they came to interview the event organizers and live broadcast all the activities. The children said they really enjoyed the workshop.

All the materials for the kadomatsu, including the bamboo, were sourced from the OCU Botanical Gardens which made the handmade kadomatsu so genuine. All the participants carefully placed their handmade works in their homes. These special kadomatsu surely enriched the New Years celebrations that took place soon thereafter.

*kadomatsu
"Kado" means “gate” and "matsu" means “pine tree”. "Kadomatsu" is a decoration consisting of bamboo and pine branches and symbolizes longevity and prosperity. It is said that they welcome the gods, thus you see many shops, company buildings and houses adorned with a pair of "kadomatsu" during the New Year holidays in Japan.

Related websites

• The OCU Botanical Gardens website
• The OCU Botanical Gardens official facebook