The location didn’t hurt either. The convention was held in Takamatsu, a port city on the north coast of Shikoku facing the Inland Sea. The region is famous for producing pine bonsai, lacquer-ware and udon. Convention events were spread between two adjacent hotels at Sunport Takamatsu.

Sunport Takamatsu

Many vendors priced their trees on the high side with the expectation that some bargaining would precede the sales. This was particularly true for the more expensive trees. Less expensive items tended to sell closer to their posted prices.

Some people held off their purchases toward the end of the event in hopes of getting a better price. I tended to get what I could while it was still available. At one point I found a box of Kokufu books beneath a sales table – oh boy! In the time it took me to pick up half of the books, another convention-goer grabbed the other half.

By the end of the event, I had filled my bags with pots, tools, books and little quince slabs for displaying accent plants. It was the unpurchased trees, however, that left the greatest impression. What fun it would be to bring some of them home!

Takayuki Fukushima’s table

Junichiro Tanaka and Ken Fujiwara’s table

Peter Warren at Kunio Kobayashi’s sales tables

Antique stands

Antique root stand – likely priced well over $10,000

Little red and blue pots

Suiseki

Half of the vendors were situated in a tent right on the Inland Sea. The selection inside was great.

Detached vendor area

Trees for sale

Junipers for sale

One vendor filled two tables with nothing but shimpaku. They ranged from rough material to Important Bonsai Masterpieces.

Shimpaku – $1,800

Shimpaku – $1,800

Shimpaku – $21,600

Shimpaku, Important Bonsai Masterpiece – no price listed

Procumbens juniper

The quality really was amazing. Although S-CUBE set the high bar in terms of quality, many vendors offered outstanding trees.

Trident maple

Korean Hornbeam

Small deciduous tree in Koyo pot

Black pine

Assorted deciduous trees

Red princess persimmon – $190

A word about princess persimmons – although they look delicious, the experience of eating them is far from enjoyable. Like any unripe persimmon, princess persimmons are very astringent. So much so that after tasting one, my mouth wasn’t the same for a whole week. Has anyone else given these a try?

Demo tree, Kimura, Isobe

Shimpaku – before

Shimpaku – after

One standout difference was the number of translators. At one point, a Japanese Australian member of the audience – Megumi Bennett – took the stage to help out the English translator. This yielded one Japanese description, two Japanese to English translations, and one Japanese to Chinese translation all in the service of a single question. It was a start.

Lo Min Hsuan (bonsai professional from Taiwan), ASPAC official, Megumi Bennett, Shigeo Isobe, Masahiko Kimura

The audio-visual set-up was very well done. Lots of close-up camera work was great for conveying detail work to a large audience.

Close up of the chainsaw

The next day of the convention featured a double bill. Toru Suzuki’s pine demonstration occupied stage left while Shigeo Isobe’s azalea demonstration filled stage right.

At one point during Suzuki’s demonstration, the discussion turned to decandling and other more esoteric topics of pine bonsai maintenance. This proved challenging for a very capable Japanese to English translator who found her first exposure to bonsai on stage that day.

Harried translator and Toru Suzuki

Suzuki’s demo featured the styling and repotting of a clump-style Japanese black pine. Suzuki began work with a recent Daiju-en graduate, the talented Ken Fujiwara, but before long enlisted help from the Aichi-en duo of Junichiro Tanaka and Peter Tea. Together, the Daiju-en-happi-coat-clad team made quick work of the wiring.

Peter Tea, Junichiro Tanaka, Ken Fujiwara and Toru Suzuki work on a clump-style pine

I actually learned an important lesson during the repotting section of the demo about handling bonsai roots carefully. I’ll share the details when I have better photos.

Suzuki working on the roots

The pine was to be planted on a rock slab. When the time came for muck-work, Suzuki again called for help from the audience, enlisting assistance from a Hawaiian, Roy Yamashiroya, and a Californian, Dennis Makashima.

ASPAC visitors from Hawaii and California help with the repotting

Meanwhile, Isobe had turned a shrub into a wonderful azalea bonsai.

Azalea before and after

Satsuki azalea – after

After getting the muck into place, the assistants covered the muck with moss, creating a very nice slab planting.

Demonstration complete

Last year’s Asia-Pacific Bonsai and Suiseki Convention and Exhibit featured a high-priced, high tech, bonsai auction. Bidding was open to all convention attendees, so the trees went on display well ahead of the event. Some of the trees were awesome.

Shimpaku

Red pine

Black pine

Japanese maple

Shimpaku

The auction also featured antique pots and stands. I was tempted to bid and very curious how much these items would fetch.

Antique pot

Pots and stands

The auctioneer was an experienced bonsai auctioneer and pot expert. Microphone duties fell to the talented bonsai professional Isao Omachi of Sendai.

Auctioneer and Omachi

The auctioneer opened the auction in the traditional fashion – he barked, “Sei-no!” and we clapped three times: clap-clap-clap, clap-clap-clap.

The event then got off to a rocky start. The auction followed the conventions of the Japanese bonsai community. Rather than offering set prices and soliciting bids, the auctioneer asked if we had bids, and bidders named their offers. The Japanese in the room followed this convention while some of the westerners indicated bids with gestures. Adding to the fun, translators provided English and Chinese versions of the bidding. This is where the high tech kicked in. Video projections of each tree filled a huge screen above the stage with graphics showing prices in Japanese yen, US dollars, and Chinese yuan.

Suiseki

Antique pot

The projection system worked very well, and the translators kept pace without making mistakes. Bidding, however, never really took off. Throughout the convention, many discussions had focused on the anticipation of rich Chinese buyers making the event a huge success. As over half of the registered attendees were Chinese, hopes were high. At the auction, however, most bids came from Japanese professionals. As a result, few lots sold beyond their actual value.

Shimpaku on the block

Of course, the numbers were much higher than any I’ve seen in California bonsai auctions. Good trees here went for good money.

Satsuki azalea

The numbers in these photos don’t all correspond with the final bids – the trees were removed and the screens cleared right as bidding stopped.

Red pine from Korea – one of the demonstration trees

I didn’t end up bidding, but I thoroughly enjoyed the event. I’ll say more about the rest of the convention next week.

I always appreciate the different approaches bonsai professionals take with their gardens. Some gardens are filled with exhibit-ready trees while other gardens are filled with project trees. Some focus on a certain size or variety of tree while others include bonsai of every description. At a glance, it’s clear that the focus at Aichi-en is on pine bonsai. White, red, and black pines fill the majority of the garden, and there are more large trees than medium or small sized bonsai. Trident and Japanese maples comprise the bulk of the deciduous trees, but these sit beside quince, ume and hornbeam among other deciduous varieties. There are junipers, cryptomeria, and many other trees whose names I do not know.

From the roof of Mr. Tanaka’s bonsai workshop, one can get a sense of how many trees fill his garden.

Aichi-en from above

More garden and the family house

Tanaka keeps some trees on the workshop roof.

Rooftop garden

Many of the garden’s project trees were kept on the rooftop. The nicer trees were situated closer to ground level.

Root over rock Japanese black pine

Black pine

Pine

Red pine

Black pine

Most of the kifu-sized trees shared a staggered table near the house.

Kifu bleachers

In fall, the colors were wonderful.

Bonsai Fall color

Up close, the trees were wonderful. Two of the garden’s Zuisho were outstanding.

Japanese five needle pine – ‘Zuisho’

Zuisho bonsai

Considering the small size of Zuisho needles and branches, these are remarkably full trees.

The same tree from above

The Japanse maple beside the front gate turned a wonderful shade of red.

Japanese maple

The pieris below sits right inside the front gate.

Pieris bonsai

I snapped these shots during short breaks or early in the morning – those precious moments when I was free to appreciate the trees in the garden. Back in the workshop, I appreciated the trees one at a time. The black pine below was one of the last ones I worked on at Aichi-en. I removed all of the old needles and some of the new from the strong areas. In weak areas, I removed some or all of the old needles. I also cut a few small branches where more than two emerged from the same place. It was very basic pine work, but it made the tree look a lot better.

Cascade Japanese black pine

New, old, and dead needles

After removing old, dead and some new needles

Fall work complete

That’s the story for a single pine. With all of the pines in the garden, that’s a lot of tweezer work.

More than a few friends and family members have asked what it was like living as a bonsai apprentice in Japan for 6 weeks. Some days were filled with mochi parties and antique shows. Other days involved lifting, carrying, and more lifting. There was a lot of sitting in the car as we drove as far as Tokyo and Takamatsu, and there was a lot of second hand smoke.

As much as I lived the day-to-day life of a bonsai apprentice, I was a short-timer, and this helped keep my spirits high throughout my visit. I don’t pretend to know what it’s like for Peter Tea or the other Americans studying bonsai abroad. Fortunately for us, they’re doing a great job writing about their experiences.

Peter started the Aichi-en Apprenticeship Program to expose more people to the bonsai life. So far at least four of us have stayed with the Tanakas in their Nagoya home.

Apprentice quarters at Aichi-en

The sum of my furniture: futon, comforter, storage unit, rubbish bin

You’ll notice that the sliding doors and walls offered very little privacy. At any time, the Tanaka’s boys would peek inside to say hi, see if I could play, or stop by for an impromptu computer lesson.

The industrious Hiyuu navigating Facebook

I was fortunate that Peter had been at Aichi-en for seven months when I arrived – plenty of time for him to learn the routine and improve his already considerable bonsai skills. His comfort at Aichi-en insured my comfort there.

Each morning we ate breakfast with the family and then headed out into the sea of bonsai surrounding the house.

Sea of bonsai

We spent much of our time in the workshop. Mr. Tanaka sat just inside the door – I sat to his right, then Peter, and finally the other Mr. Tanaka, a third-year apprentice, sat at the far end of the workshop. Some days were quiet, others were chatty. Snacks appeared around 10:30 and 3:30 each day, as did lunch and dinner at fairly predictable times. What was not predictable, however, was how much time we got to spend in the workshop.

I visited Aichi-en in Fall – show season. This meant that we spent a lot of time with show-related activities that included picking up trees from customers, preparing trees for exhibits, and setting up and later striking the actual exhibits.

At the Daiju-en sales area, part of the 11th Asia-Pacific Bonsai and Suiseki Convention and Exhibition held in Takamatsu

Fall is also pine season. When we weren’t doing exhibit-related work, pines filled the workshop.

Aichi-en workshop

Mr. Tanaka and me appraising a white pine

Debatable wiring technique

The intrepid Mr. Tanaka – no relation to the boss

Workshop time doesn’t necessarily equate to bonsai time. Peter, apprentice-Tanaka, and I, cleaned the workshop every day and performed tasks that varied from packing boxes to painting display stands. The same was true for Mr. Tanaka. His work came to a halt whenever customers visited, and evenings were often filled with projects like the fabrication of root stands.

Mr. Tanaka at work on a root stand

One apprentice-related topic that deserves special attention is food. It’s one thing to have little control over one’s time. It’s another to have little control over what, and how quickly, one must eat.

I was fed very well and I missed the food the day I returned home. But because we had so little control over what, where, and when we ate, our free time often focused on food.

On those special occasions when we had time off – maybe one day per 10-20 days – we often headed across a busy street to a mall that had a great grocery store. Peter and I picked out everything that looked good and then spent the rest of the day snacking. Treats ranged from the healthy, including Japan’s outstanding – and expensive – produce, to all manner of things fried.

Fried treats at the local grocery

Amazing apples – only $7 for three!

Roasted cherry-flavored mochi with red bean paste

The meals rarely left me hungry – the Japanese develop great appetites at an early age.

What are you looking at?

Finding the bottom of the udon bowl

Peter vs the Taiyaki – waffle batter with red bean paste inside

Our precious days off gave us the opportunity to catch up with friends or with blog posts, explore the neighborhood, or simply sleep. Mundane activities included laundry. Peter and I used the Tanakas’ washing machine, but dried our clothes at a laundromat a few blocks away. In one of the more surreal moments of my visit to Japan, I found myself alone with a uniformed laundry attendant vacuuming beneath the dryers on her hands and knees while the Carpenters sang their greatest hits.

Days off also provided social time with the Tanaka family. One day we headed to the oldest Temple in Nagoya to participate in a service for young boys, of which the Tanakas have three.

The Aichi-en children

Afterwards, we visited an open house hosted by the man who built the Tanaka’s residence.

Traditional Japanese home – hinoki and sugi

We also had a little free time in the mornings before Mr. Tanaka came out to the workshop. I typically walked around appreciating the trees – and pots, of which Aichi-en had plenty.

Hmm, Japanese, 40 years old – maybe just the thing for that pine back home

Above all, I can say the time spent with Peter and the Tanakas was great fun. I learned a lot and had a wonderful time along the way. I sincerely appreciate the effort Peter and the Tanakas took to ensure I had a great trip – if any of you are reading this, thanks again!

On my last evening, Mr. Tanaka presented me with a certificate for completing 6 weeks of study at his nursery. To celebrate, we headed into town and visited a driving range!

Here’s the paper – now on with the party

Of course, it was early December in Nagoya – not the warmest time of the year, but as good a time as any for golf, a sport which all three of us – Mr. Tanaka, Peter and myself – have neglected in recent years due to our obsession with bonsai.

Mr. Tanaka armed against the cold with cigarette and coffee – me with hoodie and 5-iron

The driving range was pretty incredible. After striking a ball, the tee dipped below the artificial grass and arose with another ball in place – there was no bending over at this range. And the vending machine that provided us with the cards used to magically dispense balls proved to be the most thoughtful vending machine I’ve seen. The text reads, “CARD: This machine represents pleasant feeling with simple form and fresh color patterns. Glory producing machine by respecting convenience of users and others.”

“Glory producing machine”

Intense competition on the range – brrr!

After proving that we aren’t the golfers we once were, we lit out for a late night snack – ramen. The evening made for a great finish to an outstanding trip. I can’t wait to go back!

Thanks for reading

One of the last trees I worked on at Aichi-en last fall was a mid-sized white pine. My styling guidance was simple – I was told to make the tree look nicer. Beyond that, Mr. Tanaka told me not to cut too much. Cutting large branches can trigger vigorous growth and one of the primary goals for refining white pines is controlling vigor and keeping needles short.

I began by removing the old needles and a few small branches before I started wiring. I began with the first branch and worked my way up from there. About half way up the tree, I was unhappy with my progress – I thought the tree looked funny. At this point, Peter Tea mentioned that Mr. Tanaka often focuses on the angles of the main branches. The main branches weren’t making me happy, and Peter strongly encouraged me to go for it, so I spent about a day lowering the main branches where I wanted them. Before long, the smaller branches fell into place and I was done.

Done enough, anyway. Once I was relatively happy with the tree, I had Mr. Tanaka take a look. Here are shots of the pine before I started work and after I finished.

Front – before

Front – after

Mr. Tanaka got to work quickly and began with the first branch. He spaced out the foliage creating a wider, and flatter, branch pad. I liked it. He then reduced a branch in the front of the tree which exposed more of the trunk. Beyond that, Mr. Tanaka made many minor adjustments and finished by lowering two of the main branches and removing a fairly large branch on the right side of the tree – a change that’s barely noticeable in the photo. The change that most intrigued me concerned the apex. It now stood upright and pointed in the opposite direction, creating more movement near the top of the trunk. Here is the tree as adjusted by Mr. Tanaka.

After Mr. Tanaka’s adjustments

Left side

Back

When he was finished, I handed him the camera which allowed him to flip between photos of his work and mine. The comparison entertained him as it did me. He flipped back and forth between the two images for several minutes, repeating, “omoshiroi, omoshiroi” – omoshiroi being the Japanese word for both fun and funny.

Before Mr. Tanaka’s adjustments

After Mr. Tanaka’s adjustments

My work was somewhat conservative compared with Mr. Tanaka’s. I figured it was easier to remove branches later than to grow new branches after making misguided cuts. Now that I’m back in California, the decision’s all mine – to cut or not to cut – and not cutting means I have more to wire.

Central Japan will not run out of pine or juniper bonsai anytime soon. The trees below comprise about a fifth of the bonsai displayed at this year’s Meifu-ten in Nagoya, Japan. As a hobbyist exhibit, Meifu-ten shows off some of the best work done by local hobbyists and collectors. Although many of trees were prepped for the exhibit by professionals, the general quality isn’t quite what one finds at Taiken-ten or Kokufu-ten. That said, the material and much of the work is wonderful.

Cascade shimpaku on root stand

Shimpaku

Black pine

Black pine

The following six trees belong to Aichi-en customers. All of us at the nursery that week – Mr. Tanaka, the other Mr. Tanaka, Peter Tea and I, all helped pluck errant needles, wire unruly branches, oil dirty pots and arrange small tufts of moss.

Black pine – Peter Tea prep – a very nice tree

Black pine – one of the trees I helped prep for the exhibit

Black pine – the tree belongs to Mr. Tanaka, a 3rd year apprentice at Aichi-en – Peter Tea prep

Black pine – the other tree I prepped

Black pine – Peter Tea prep

White pine – Mr. Tanaka and Peter Tea wired this tree late into the evening

Black pine

White pine

Black pine

Black pine

Black pine

Black pine

Shimapaku

Red pine

Needle juniper

White pine

Black pine

The white pine below received some extra attention. It belongs to a Daiju-en customer and had been prepared for exhibit with the front as pictured below.

White pine – intended front

I placed the tree on the stand with this front but that wasn’t good enough for Mr. Tanaka, who turned the tree to the front pictured below. As it happens, the six-sided pot and six-sided stand made the change easy. What I don’t know, is what the customer thought when he saw the resulting photo or how the tree was actually displayed at the exhibit in January.

White pine as photographed

White pine

Twisty shimpaku!

Black pine

White pine

Black pine

White pine

Black pine

Black pine

Meifu-ten, one of Japan’s largest and oldest bonsai exhibits, was held January 14-16 in Nagoya. The 82 annual event contained scores of trees from all over Central Japan. Although I wasn’t able to attend, I had the opportunity to carry most of the exhibited bonsai during my visit to Japan last fall. The photographs for exhibited trees were taken in Inazawa on November 10-11, 2011. The trees’ owners – or designated professionals – showed up with trucks and vans, and a handful of us loaded and unloaded the trees for a day and a half.

An impressive load of trees

Kinbon managed the photo shoot, hiring two local contract photographers, each set up in adjacent warehouses. Peter Tea and I provided the labor for one of these.

Peter spots the trees for the next shot

The photographers indicated the order in which the trees were shot. Each owner was given a time slot ahead of time which helped us manage the workflow. After setting up a display, we stood back and watched the photographer work. He began by making an index shot with a DSLR to check the lighting. These shots included a numbered card to help them track information about each tree. He then took 3-5 shots with a medium camera shooting film! A Kinbon staffer recorded the tree variety, height, pot maker and owner for each shot.

Number 115 – needle juniper

The work proved surprisingly fun. We got to see an exhibit up close, and we had time to consider each tree. Some were outstanding – others made it clear that this was an exhibit for hobbyists. All told, it was a good mix of trees.

Gardenia

Japanese maple

Needle juniper

Apart from the few trees that arrived in trucks chock-full of bonsai, every other tree I carried arrived in a van. Japanese bonsai professionals seem to drive vans exclusively, and of these, the Toyota Hiace was one the more popular models. Following the general automotive fashion I witnessed in Japan, most were black, white or grey. The shot below captures atypical variety in van color and style.

Bonsaimobiles

Occasionally, Peter Tea and I learned a bit about the trees we handled. The red maple below, Acer palmatum ‘Seigen,’ was developed at Aichi-en. It’s an extraordinary example of the variety.

Japanese maple – ‘Seigen’

Great trunk and roots

We also had a chance to think about how the trees were displayed. Medium displays typically featured a larger tree and a smaller, a conifer and a deciduous or broadleaf evergreen tree. Some made great pairings.

Japanese maple and Japanese white pine

Close-up of the maple

Needle juniper on root stand

Japanese black pine and trident maple

Pine and broadleaf evergreen with fruit

The remaining trees were pleasant on their own.

Japanese maple

Japanese maple

Cryptomeria

Trident maple

Chinese quince – great ramification

Shohin display

Shohin display

Cypress

Kinzu – wild kumquat

Broadleaf evergreen

Japanese beech

Peter Tea provided a nice write-up of the event – see his post, “82nd Meifu-ten Bonsai Show.”

I had long been curious about the Sakufu-ten. I’d visited Kokufu and seen the books from past Sakufu-ten, but didn’t know much about the event beyond that.

Toward the end of my visit to Japan, I learned that my flight home was scheduled for the same weekend as Sakufu. Not only did I not want to miss the event, but my ride to the airport, Junichiro Tanaka, was scheduled to be in Tokyo the same day, receiving the award for top large conifer. Before the day was out, I’d changed my flight. I was going to Tokyo.

The drive from Nagoya filled about half a day. Upon arriving in Tokyo, the three of us, Tanaka, Peter Tea and I, headed straight to the Green Club to set up Tanaka’s tree. Everyone else had set up their display before lunch – we arrived just before sundown. We walked past many beautiful displays with tree and stand in hand and found an empty display on the second floor with a photo featuring a familiar white pine. As soon as the tree stopped teetering on its stand, Peter and I took in the rest of the exhibit.

It was getting chilly when we headed to our hotel about a mile away. We checked in, relaxed for a bit, then headed out for dinner in Ueno. Dinner was a fantastic affair that entailed many delicacies that we could not identify. Sometimes it’s better that way.

Korean hornbeam with spectacularly dense branches

Cypress

Black pine

Spruce

Trident maple

White pine on a rock

Japanese maple – very good trunk

White pine

Satsuki azalea

Japanese flowering quince, ‘Chojubai’

Japanese pepper tree

White pine

Very old pot

Satsuki azalea

White pine

Shimpaku

Black pine

Jasmine

White pine

Shimpaku rock planting by Kimura

Most bonsai exhibits in Japan provide enthusiasts the opportunity to show off and receive credit for their trees. One exhibit, the Sakafu-ten, provides bonsai professionals direct recognition for their work. As such, Sakufu-ten prizes are valued highly by many professionals. And unlike the multiple Kokufu prizes awarded every year, there is only one grand prize awarded at each Sakufu-ten.

Professionals submit their trees for judging in Fall and learn who the winners are soon after. The trees are photographed at this time as well. A month or two later, the trees return to Tokyo in December for the exhibit.

Last year’s exhibit was held on the first weekend of December at the Green Club in Ueno, home to the massive sales area during the Kokufu exhibit in February. The exhibit occupies the first two floors of the Green Club. A related exhibit is held on the third floor that consists solely of Important Bonsai Masterpieces. Outside the Green Club, vendors offer the usual variety of trees, pots, tools and the like.

Sakufu-ten sales area

Trees for sale – nice gardenias

The S-CUBE sales area

Cryptomeria for sale – 15万 (almost $2,000)

An award ceremony for prize winners is held on Saturday after the exhibit closes for the day. Most attendees were bonsai professionals in town for the exhibit.

2011 Sakufu-ten award ceremony

The top award is for best overall tree. By convention, this tree is a large conifer. The 2011 award went to Minoru Akiyama. Akiyama, who studied with Kunio Kobayashi at Shunka-en, was very excited to win the award.

Shinji Suzuki and impromptu hostesses supply flowers and a certificate to Minoru Akiyama

The award for large conifer is generally considered to be the number two prize at the event. The 2011 award for large conifer went to Junichiro Tanaka for a cascade white pine. Peter Tea provides a great write-up about preparing the tree for exhibit in “An Old Five Needle Pine Goes to Show.“

Junichiro Tanaka – 2011 winner, large conifer (white pine)

The number three prize is for best large deciduous tree. The 2011 award went to Takayuki Fukushima. Like Tanaka, Fukushima is a graduate of Daiju-en.

Takayuki Fukushima – 2011 winner, large deciduous bonsai (silverberry)

About nine prizes were awarded during the ceremony. The final prize went to Akio Kondo for a root over rock trident maple.

Akio Kondo – 2011 winner, Nippon Bonsai Association Award

I’ll share photos of the trees on display later this week.