A Japanese gardener made headlines by growing a 63-leaf clover and earning a spot in a major records list. The news outlet UPI reported the achievement. Since then, the gardener jokes that the plant has crowned him king of luck because clovers are widely linked with good fortune.
Yoshiharu Watanabe, now 45, began cultivating clover in his backyard in 2012 with a clear goal: to set a new world record for the highest leaf count on a single plant. After more than a decade of careful care and experimentation, the effort paid off.
Watanabe explains that his approach blends natural cross-pollination from nearby alfalfa fields with targeted pollination in zones of the garden that show the greatest leaf proliferation. Not every attempt produced visible progress, but persistence and gradual refinement finally yielded the remarkable specimen.
Here is how he describes the motivation behind the project: the widely held belief that four-leaf clovers symbolize luck; achieving a 63-leaf version would, in his view, bring unexpected delight to people who encounter it and perhaps inspire hope in those who hear the story.
In related news from the world of record-setting feats, another country has seen a different kind of impressive accomplishment. A competitor from India was noted for previously achieving a world speed record involving writing with the nose. This illustrates the broad range of human ingenuity and the variety of unusual records that attract international attention.