Anyone who knows me knows that Dai Sugi are never far from my mind. In fact, sugi was the first tree name our boy Digby learned. Here are 3 old scanned pictures from Kyoto. Cryptomeria japonica (usually var radicans in this case) is one of the few conifers that sprouts well when cut back hard - they are cut back at about knee height, and the regrowth is thinned and raised as it grows.
Needless to say, there’s a whole section on these peculiar trees in my Niwaki book....