Tatsumasa Murasame: A hunk with Japanese landscaping skills…and Japanese citizenship

People in Japan are swooning after discovering the many talents of this foreign-born gardener who gave up his original nationality to become Japanese.

With such a blend of traditional culture and modern conveniences, it’s not uncommon for people who visit Japan to fall in love with the country and dream of one day making a life here. What is uncommon, though, is choosing to become a naturalised citizen, given that it involves renouncing your original nationality, as dual citizenship is not permitted by Japanese law.

For some, though, this is a step they’re keen to take, especially when specialising in a traditional Japanese profession. That’s the case with Swedish-born Jakob Sebastian Björk, who became an apprentice gardener in the field of traditional Japanese gardening, and the Japanese master who taught him the craft gave him the name “Tatsumasa Murasame”, a title he now proudly goes by after becoming a naturalised Japanese.

In Japan’s largely homogenous society though, Murasame doesn’t fit the stereotypical image of a Japanese person, so when Twitter user @kuroda_xxx brought Murasame’s story to light recently, the tall, blonde bodybuilder quickly blew people’s minds.

頼む。頼むよ見てくれ、そして全人類の性癖に刺さってくれ。ワイは刺殺された。 ・日本人として生きたいと日本に帰化。現在彼は日本人。 ・嘘みたいにイケメン ・嘘みたいに筋肉 ・嘘みたいに職業が庭師 ・嘘みたいにかっこいい「村雨辰剛(… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

—
黒田 (@kuroda_xxx) July 03, 2018

The tweet above takes the liberty of mentioning a few key points about the Japanese landscaper:

• He wanted to live as a Japanese person so he became naturalised; he is now Japanese
• He’s incredibly good looking
• He has incredible muscles
• He has an incredible occupation – gardener
• He has an incredibly cool name “Tatsumasa Murasame”, which was given to him by his master

It’s true that his name, which consists of the Japanese words for “Passing Shower” (Murasame), “dragon” (Tatsu), and one character from his master’s name (Masa), is a pretty cool one to have, but that’s not all that’s impressing folks online.

▼ Murasame and the master who named him.

His unwavering dedication to the art of traditional Japanese garden design has been attracting a lot of attention, even landing him appearances on a number of television programmes.

▼ Here he appeared on a show called More Japanese Than a Japanese Person.

▼ Murasame has also modelled for Tokyo Graffiti magazine, dressed as a “Neo-Tokyoite”

▼ And he’s a keen bodybuilder who competes in bodybuilding competitions.

▼ Helping him with his workouts at home is his adorable tortoiseshell cat.

Murasame’s main passion, though, is gardening, where he uses traditional tools and techniques to prune Japanese pine trees…

▼ Set up New Year’s Kadomatsu decorations…

▼ And maintain bonsai plants.

▼ Warning: thirst trap alert!

To keep up with Murasame’s many passions and pursuits, be sure to check out his accounts on Instagram and Twittter. While there’s no doubt that the hardworking landscaper has a bright future ahead of him, if he’s ever in need of a change of pace, we’re sure these guys wouldn’t mind hanging out with him!

Source: Hachima Kikou
Featured image: Instagram/tatsumasa.murasame

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