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Gomangoku – the Daiju-en family bonsai exhibit

December 2, 2011 by Jonas Dupuich

Gomangoku is the Daiju-en family’s annual bonsai exhibit – it was held a few weeks ago over the first weekend in November. The phrase “Daiju-en family” refers, in this case, to Toru Suzuki, head of the Daiju-en garden in Okazaki, Aichi, and all of the available bonsai professionals who have studied there with Suzuki.

Daiju-en sans oyakata

Daiju-en extended family with the glaring omission of Toru Suzuki. Standing: Ken-senpai, Hino-senpai, Tok-senpai, Yasuo Mitsuya, Peter Tea, me, Junichiro Tanaka. Squatting: Fu-senpai, Taka-senpai, Isao-senpai, Uch-senpai. A wonderful bunch of very talented bonsai professionals.

Gomangoku is a relatively small exhibit at around 50 displays, but the quality of the trees is very high. Peter Tea has written a great rundown of the event – see Gomangoku 五万石盆栽展 (Daiju-en show) 2011 for the full story. I was able to tag along as I’m spending time in Japan through Peter’s Apprenticeship Program at Aichi-en. Helping with the exhibit was a great experience – here is an overwhelming number of photos from the event.

Big trees

Sitting in a miniature forest

Kinbon shooting the show

The photo setup used by the Kinbon folks

Uch-senpai with Moriyama shinpaku

Uch-senpai, currently 3 years into his apprenticeship at Daiju-en, sitting with Mr. Moriyama’s very large shimpaku

Posing with Ooishi maple

Posing next to a great Japanese maple from Ooishi

Large Japanese maple

Giant maple greeting visitors at the front door

Almost ready

Adding the final touches before the night before show opens

White pine

White pine

Choujubai

Choujubai quince

Rose

Rose

Shohin pyracantha

Pyracantha

Accent

Accent

Princess persimmon

Princess persimmon

Needle juniper

Needle juniper

Akebia

Akebia

White pine

White pine

Trident maple

Trident maple

Pyracantha

Pyracantha

Beech

Japanese beech

Needle juniper

Needle juniper

Choujubai

Choujubai quince

White pine

White pine

White pine

White pine

Needle juniper

Needle juniper

Needle juniper

Needle juniper

Japanese maple

Japanese maple

Accent

Accent

Yew

Yew

Kaido

Kaido

Needle juniper

Needle juniper

Pyracantha

Pyracantha

Korean hornbeam

Korean hornbeam

White pine

White pine

Persimmon

Persimmon

Black pine

White pine

Deciduous tree

Accent

Variegated jasmine

Jasmine

Needle juniper

Needle juniper

Japanese maple

Japanese maple

Bonus points for those of you who have noticed a second glaring omission – there are no black pines pictured here! Daiju-en is well-known for their pines – I’ll share them in a future post.

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Filed Under: Exhibits Tagged With: Daiju-en, Japan

Previous Post: « Preparing trees for show
Next Post: Black pine bonsai on display at Gomangoku »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Judy B says

    December 2, 2011 at 4:12 am

    First off, thanks for sharing your time in Japan with us. Maybe this is clear to others, but what type of tree is the kaido?

    • xwires says

      December 3, 2011 at 5:40 am

      Thanks Judy! Kaido is a crabapple, Malus x micromalus, I think. They are popular for their colorful fruit in winter exhibits.

  2. crataegus says

    December 15, 2011 at 11:48 am

    Bravo Jonas!
    I’m so excited for your time over there! All your posts have been amazing, and I regret I’ve not commented previously. Gomangoku is one of the shows I was never able to see over there, so I’m delighted by your photo essay.
    How wonderful you’re getting in some pitch time! Pitch time… time spent after which you’d need an emulsifier to remove pine sap…
    Soak it all up, man, and keep those stories and photos coming-
    Very best wishes-

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