Plant Hunter: Japanese horticulturist builds gardens with unique species

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Botanists have risked their lives exploring the world to study exotic plants. Such people were referred to as plant hunters. Today, we introduce you to a modern-day Japanese plant hunter who builds gardens with his unique collection of plant species from all over the world. Mayu Yoshida has the story.

A 20-meter high tree goes up in this crowded residential neighborhood. It's a part of Seijun Nishihata's latest garden creation. His company specializes in horticultural consulting. But people call him a "plant hunter" as he travels the world, exploring jungles and mountains, to gather unique plants.

SEIJUN NISHIHATA CEO, SORA BOTANICAL GARDEN "It's been a long time since people started calling me plant hunter. Maybe because I'm travelling a lot, more than 200 trips in the past to more than 35 countries looking for plants."

Nishihata's family has been in the horticulture business for over a hundred and fifty years. He's been surrounded by flowers and trees his entire life. And now he wants to continue his family's legacy by creating a "greener" Tokyo.

SEIJUN NISHIHATA CEO, SORA BOTANICAL GARDEN "The last 5 years or 10 years especially in Japan developers they think like 'oh we need green when we build buildings' like this. Before that they used to be like they build building then green, ok! They just put it."

Today, Nishihata imports roughly 200 tons of trees and flowers every year. His clients include celebrities, restaurants and major companies like Sony. But his passion lies in exploring jungles and mountains to find rare plants that are not distributed through existing markets in Japan.

MAYU YOSHIDA CGTN CORRESPONDENT "You mentioned about importing a lot of plants into Japan, can't you just buy them here to save your time and money?'

SEIJUN NISHIHATA CEO, SORA BOTANICAL GARDEN "We can just click the button and we can get any like of plants. I keep travelling and travelling because every plant has its own story and every project has a concept. And every site has a local history, so I have to travel and understand myself what is the right plants to deliver."

MAYU YOSHIDA CGTN CORRESPONDENT "People call you a plant hunter. What do you call yourself? And what's your ambition?"

SEIJUN NISHIHATA CEO, SORA BOTANICAL GARDEN "I'm like plant man, I'm a plant lover. I (will) travel anywhere in the world to help them and do a nice project with plants to make people happy. That's my very life, that's my dream, and that's my life work."

In this digital age, Nishihata says it's important to stop and smell the roses and reconnect with nature. MAYU YOSHIDA, CGTN, Tokyo.