- Luck of the Irish? Try the luck of the Japanese.
Finding a four-leaf clover is a rare occurrence. As such, it’s no wonder that the mutant plant is traditionally considered to bring good luck to its discoverer.
But if a mere four-leaf clover brings you good luck, then Yoshiharu Watanabe is about to become the most fortunate man in the world.
Watanabe recently broke the Guinness World Record for finding a clover with the most leaves. The record-setting monstrosity has 63 leaves—seven more than the previous record holder.
Well, Watanabe didn’t really find the clover. Instead, he created it, like an incredibly lucky Dr. Frankenstein.
The Japanese man has been experimenting with clovers in his backyard for over a decade. His efforts finally bore fruit (or leaf), but Watanabe says he doesn’t want to keep all the luck for himself.
“People say that a four-leaved clover brings you happiness, so it would be great if this 63-leaved clover would bring surprise and pleasure to people,” he said.
What a nice guy.
Grown in His Yard
As mentioned, Watanabe’s clover wasn’t a random find. It took him a lot of work over many years to produce his ultimate creation.
His quest for the luckiest clover of them all began in 2012. Watanabe must be naturally lucky, because he says he kept finding clovers with extra leaves left and right.
“Clover is a common plant found everywhere, so whenever I saw a four-leaved, five-leaved, or seven-leaved clover near paddy fields or parks, I took it back home,” he explained.
Transplanting the hardy clover apparently wasn’t very difficult.
“The plant is pretty strong and you don’t have to do anything to it, so I just left them, then they just prospered,” said Watanabe.
As time went on, the clovers in his backyard proliferated until they formed multiple separate patches. At that point, the plants began to cross-pollinate spontaneously, sharing their lucky genes with each other.
And just like that, the number of leaves Watanabe kept spotting on a single stalk began to grow. After a few years, he discovered a 20-leaf clover in his garden, and that’s when he got the idea of going for the record.
“Since the number of leaves has increased year by year, I have been aiming for the Guinness World Records title ever since,” he said.
Not an Easy Task
Although his heart was now set on the clover to end all clovers, the task wasn’t a simple one.
“I had to triple the number of leaves in order to try and beat [the record]. It didn’t seem that easy, yet the leaves were growing in numbers; I thought I might eventually be able to break it,” Watanabe said.
He determined that to get the maximum number of leaves on his clovers, it wasn’t enough to let nature take its course. In addition to letting bees do their thing, Watanabe started hand-pollinating the clovers.
By 2020, he had created a 49-leaf clover, and the following year, he increased the leaf count to 55. This clover was just one leaf short of the then record-holding 56-leafer, grown by Watanabe’s compatriot Shigeo Obara in 2009.
Yet, it just wasn’t good enough. At times, Watanabe also experienced setbacks.
“Sometimes the number of leaves can go down, or sometimes you end up with the normal three-leaf clover. We know that genetics are involved in a higher number of leaves, yet we don’t exactly know how it works,” he explained.
The Slow Count
Despite the occasionally falling leaf count, Watanabe didn’t get discouraged. Finally, he noticed a promising bunch of mutated clover in his yard.
Plucking the multi-leafed monster from the ground, a quick estimate told him that it would tie Obara’s 56-leaf clover. He began to painstakingly count each leaf.
“Because the leaves are smaller than the standard clover that you know and love, it’s hard to count the number of leaves. When I counted this record-breaking clover, it took me over an hour,” recalled Watanabe.
It was well worth the effort, though. Watanabe said he was “very happy” when his count surpassed 56 before going above 60.
Maybe this freak of a clover was created by all the luck Watanabe had accumulated from his previous creations. We’ll have to wait and see if he decides to try and create an even bigger one.