• 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
  • About
    • Workshops

Hinoki forests and more at the 34th Taikan-ten

January 13, 2015 by Jonas Dupuich

I don’t often see hinoki cypress bonsai forests, and I wouldn’t expect to see multiple hinoki bonsai forests in the same exhibit. The recent Taikan-ten exhibition in Kyoto, Japan, featured four of them.

Tsuyama hinoki cypress

Tsuyama hinoki cypress (Photos by Boon Manakitivipart)

I enjoy hinoki bonsai because they are often styled into abstract shapes with silhouettes that resemble full-sized trees seen from a distance.

Tsuyama hinoki cypress

Tsuyama hinoki cypress

Seeing several of these forests in the same exhibit provides a good opportunity to compare different approaches to branch arrangement, trunk arrangement and planting angle, as well as silhouette.

Tsuyama hinoki cypress

Tsuyama hinoki cypress

If anyone knows the story behind this special exhibit – or why the trees are presented with prints of what appear to be temple guardians – do please share.

Tsuyama hinoki cypress

Tsuyama hinoki cypress

Below, Boon checks in with two of Fujikawa Kouka-en’s finest – Bjorn Bjorholm and Dario Mader.

Boon Manakitivipart, Bjorn Bjorholm, Dario Mader

Boon, Bjorn and Dario

There was something fun about every display at the event, like this massive gardenia with fruit on the first branch.

Gardenia

Gardenia

The ezo spruce below is accented by a curious euonymus and scroll.

Ezo spruce

Ezo spruce

White pine

White pine with suiseki in moss

White pine and euonymus sieboldiana

White pine with euonymus and painting

Japanese flowering quince 'chojubai'

Awesome Japanese flowering quince ‘chojubai’

Sawara cypress and hawthorn

A good example of a 3 point display with more than three elements – cypress with scroll and hawthorn/accent combo dislpayed as a single unit

Black pine

Japanese black pine

Citrus medica 'sarcodactylis'

Buddha’s hand citrus

Suiseki

Suiseki

Japanese flowering quince 'chojubai'

Japanese flowering quince ‘chojubai’ growing on a rock

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 ConvertKit

Filed Under: Exhibits Tagged With: Japan, Taikan-ten

Previous Post: « Follow the line of the trunk
Next Post: Ask Daisaku Nomoto anything »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. John says

    January 13, 2015 at 4:12 am

    Very cool!

  2. Sage Smirh says

    January 13, 2015 at 6:20 am

    Absolutely awesome trees. What a treat it is to see them. Thanks again to Jonas for making this blog happen and thanks to Boon for the pics

  3. Oscar Torres says

    January 13, 2015 at 8:39 am

    Reblogged this on Bonsai Maya and commented:
    Que hermoso bosque Bonsai de Cipres

  4. Paul says

    January 13, 2015 at 10:09 am

    I have a tough time making Hinoki back bud. Any tricks that will help or are is that feature common to Hinoki.

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      January 13, 2015 at 10:20 am

      Keeping trees very healthy and feeding lots can help, as can ensuring light in the area where the buds are desired, but I don’t count on back buds on hinoki the way I do on juniper. Grafting is the primary alternative.

  5. Nicola "Kitora" Crivelli says

    January 13, 2015 at 10:40 am

    Reblogged this on Kitora no do.

  6. hoechuah says

    January 13, 2015 at 1:55 pm

    The four prints accompanying the hinoki cypress forests are the Buddhist Four Guardian Kings, called the Four Lopakala in Sanskrit or Shitenno in Japanese. They guard the four corners of the earth: north, south, east, west. Don’t know if they were placed at the four cardinal directions in Taikan-ten or not. May be that’s the connection.
    My other guess is Hinoki Cypress is a preferred timber used for temple beams and sculptures because hinoki timbers are straight, tall, big and resistance to decays. Kyoto is a city full of temples.

  7. margotheli says

    January 13, 2015 at 2:08 pm

    Arte, arte y belleza

  8. Jeffrey Granger says

    January 16, 2015 at 10:39 am

    Thank You

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 2009-2021 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