KYOTO--When his dream of becoming a top rugby player in Japan fell through, a devastated Siale Pasa planted the seeds for a new career. 

Now, Pasa, 34, who left his home in Tonga in pursuit of that dream, says he has found working as a gardener in Kyoto to be more fulfilling.

He works at the Murin-an garden, among other well-known Japanese gardens, for Ueyakato Landscape Co., which has been around in the ancient capital since 1848.

Although there are no autumn leaves nor gardening companies in Tonga, Pasa said he has a new dream to chase in his homeland.

“I want to make a Japanese garden at the king’s house and bring comfort to many people,” he said.

In late November, when the fall foliage reached its peak, Pasa, dressed in a traditional “happi” coat, diligently collected fallen maple leaves with his hands on a lawn in Murin-an in Kyoto’s Sakyo Ward.

A nationally designated place of scenic beauty, the garden was part of a private villa of Aritomo Yamagata, who served as prime minister during the Meiji Era (1868-1912).

Pasa sorted through the less wrinkled of the freshly fallen leaves and left some on the ground.

“Maple leaves are beautiful even after they fall. If you take them all out, you lose what makes autumn autumn as well,” he said in fluent Japanese.

Pasa was born in 1986 in Nuku’alofa, the capital of the southern Pacific island state of Tonga, about 8,000 kilometers away from Japan. Rugby is a popular sport there, and he started playing at a very young age. He was one of the forwards for his school team, which made it to the national finals.

He reached a turning point in 2005, when Takashi Emori, 49, manager of the rugby club at Hanazono University in Kyoto’s Nakagyo Ward, visited Tonga on a recruiting trip. Pasa caught the manager’s attention. He had a powerful physique, good stamina, and an honest and serious personality.

Although Pasa was supposed to take over an electronics shop run by his family, his parents encouraged him to make his own choice. He made up his mind and came to Japan in 2006.

Pasa played an active role as a regular member of the team from the first year, weighing in at 100 kilograms and standing 185 centimeters tall.

He was eager to play in Japan’s Top League, but he did not receive any offers from clubs. Frustrated, yet unable to give up on his dream, he graduated from the university and continued to work out in a gym with his former schoolmates.

Ueyakato Landscape’s managing director, who shared the same gym, approached Pasa with a job offer. Working as a gardener requires physical strength, after all.

Pleased at the prospect of staying in Japan, Pasa worked as a part-time apprentice for about a year and a half.

“I wasn’t interested in gardening,” he recalled. “But it became more and more interesting until I found it more fascinating than rugby.”

Pasa was officially hired as a gardener in 2011.

While the gardening work requires delicate handwork, he also does a fair amount of heavy lifting.

Gardeners cut down trees in the mountains and transport them to gardens for landscaping. They also carry large stones into gardens.

Pasa must also fight the severe cold in the fall and winter. It was more demanding and tiring than the ex-rugby player had imagined.

But as Pasa watched how veteran gardeners set up stones and trimmed branches, he found himself intrigued with creating landscapes that imitate nature and he became eager to pursue this career path.

Pasa currently commutes to Murin-an, Higashi-Honganji temple and other sites to learn about the beauty of Japanese gardens. He trims pine trees and prunes branches on trees about 20 meters tall at Kiyomizudera temple.

“It is intense work, but that is all the more reason that I find it really rewarding,” he said.

He has become a reliable member of the gardening company.

“He is always willing to work with a smile and good cheer,” one employee said.

Pasa eventually married and obtained permanent residency in Japan.

In the last fiscal year, he became the first Tongan ever certified as a roadside-tree pruner by the Japan Landscape Contractors Association, a distinction that recognizes him as an expert who combines knowledge on forest ecology with the skills of traditional artisans.