• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Bonsai Tonight

An educational website about bonsai development

  • Blog
    • How-to Guides
  • Podcast
  • Shop
    • Bonsai
    • Books
    • Soil
    • Soil (wholesale)
    • Supplies
    • Tools
    • Video Consulting
    • Northern California Bonsai Resources
  • About
    • Workshops

Night auction

December 9, 2011 by Jonas Dupuich

Towards the end of every month, bonsai professionals gather at a selected nursery for a night auction. The night auction is local to Central Japan and features material a step up from the 8 Auction, or Youkakai.

Night auction

Night auction

The first thing I noticed is that trees and pots to be auctioned sat in a fairly dark corner of the yard. One could only look so closely before the event started. Not that anyone complains – we were too busy with our gyoza, fried rice and miso soup. They tend to feed buyers well at auctions.

Trees and pots for sale

Trees and pots for sale

Once the event began, trees were carried inside one at a time  – by Peter Tea, among others – and placed on a turntable were everyone, maybe a dozen buyers, could see. The folks up front had a great view of the trees, and they often handled them to get a better sense of what they were bidding on.

Examining a tree on the block

Examining a tree

This was my favorite part of the event. Prospective buyers had less than a minute to decide how to bid on each tree. I found myself sizing up trees with interest, appreciating the good points, noting any flaws, finding the front of the tree and making mini-development plans all in about 15 seconds. When the bidding slowed down, the auctioneer looked at the seller to check if the last offer was adequate. If not, the seller and buyer reluctantly made offers until the tree either sold or the next lot was brought in.

Sold trees were grouped by buyer on the ground – this is the part I helped with. As the event is fairly informal, the auctioneer mentioned the buyer’s name when handing me each tree. I then ran into the dark and found the appropriate cluster of trees.

Sold area

Sold area

The auction lasted about two hours and a lot of trees changed hands. Afterwards there was a mad dash to cram everything into vans ahead of sometimes long drives home.

Subscribe to Bonsai Tonight

New Posts Delivered Every Tuesday and Friday

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by Kit

Filed Under: Excursions Tagged With: Japan

Previous Post: « Black pine bonsai on display at Gomangoku
Next Post: Styling a Japanese white pine »

Footer

Follow Bonsai Tonight

Subscribe

Instagram ● Facebook ● Twitter
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Shop
  • About

P.O. Box 6560, Alameda, CA 94501 · 510-915-2025 · jonas (at) bonsaitonight (dot) com

© Copyright 2009-2025 Bonsai Tonight · All rights reserved · Privacy · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. You can opt-out if you wish. Accept Decline Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT