This tree put a smile on my face too – it’s one of many great trees in a garden near the Shinpukuji Temple in Okazaki. The owner of this collection has shown at least one tree in each in Kokufu bonsai exhibit for the past 20 years.

Vlad and root over rock trident maple.

Adjacent to the temple you’ll find a bonsai museum that displays a rotating collection of trees indoors in tokonomas and outside on a patio. Downstairs is a collection of scrolls, pots and figures from various eras of Japan’s past.

You’d be hard pressed to find a better setting for these trees. The temple and surrounding forested mountains deserve as much attention as the bonsai for which they serve as a background.