1st February 2009.
As can be seen from the photo above the rootball was very matted together. The media was shohin akadama, but it was very compressed and very difficult to tease out the roots without doing damage to them.
The rootball had to be soaked in a bowl of water several times to soften up the akadama.

The photo on the right shows the roots after they have hosed down and cleaned out.

This photo shows that that the roots have been cut and the tree is now ready for re-potting.

The tree was repotted using small akadama and small kiryu. This is the next size up from the shohin grade which tends to bind together when wet.