Working here in Japan we do a lot of work on different species and you quickly get to know the characteristics of them. Although the work is pretty much the same process of cleaning up, wiring & styling they are all slightly different. All species have their plus point’s and negative points but, certainly my out right favourite has come to be goyomatsu/japanese white pine. I find them a pleasure to work with and very much enjoy styling them.
The minus points of this species is it has a tendency to be weaker and you can’t push them as hard as a black pine for instance. Also to make a white pine look nice after a styling really requires a dense tree. Especially if it is good needle quality and small needles. Otherwise they look very sparse and it can be difficult to define the pads.

Here is an example…