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Ask Daisaku Nomoto anything

January 16, 2015 by Jonas Dupuich

Ever wonder what it’s like to work on bonsai every day? Plus weekends and evenings? On some of the best trees in the world? Now’s your chance to find out.

Tomorrow evening Daisaku Nomoto, a bonsai professional living in Miyazaki, Japan, will do his best to answer your questions on any topic, bonsai related or not.

Black pine

Daisaku Nomoto at his Kyushu nursery, Nomoto Chinshoen

The best and worst things about working with trees every day? Advice for beginners? Whether or not his favorite pop star is still Adele? You get the idea. The AMA (Ask Me Anything) will be held online at Ask Bonsai Tonight. The rules are simple – post your questions here.

For those unfamiliar with Nomoto and his work, Nomoto is Boon Manakitivipart’s senpai, or senior. The two apprenticed together with Kihachiro Kamiya at Kihachi-en in Aichi prefecture, Japan. After completing his apprenticeship, Nomoto returned to Kyushu to work with his father at the family nursery, Nomoto Chinshoen.

Bending a student’s juniper in a workshop

Nomoto’s skills are impressive, and his sense of humor makes him a pleasure to work with. I met Nomoto on my first trip to Japan in 1999 and we’ve kept in touch through his many trips to the US and my visits to Japan. If you’re interested in learning more, I’ve collected links to a number of posts about him and his work. For a look at some of the trees at his nursery, see:

  • Nomoto Chinshoen
  • Junipers and maples at Chinshoen
  • Chojubai and white pine from Chinshoen

To see some of the work he’s done in the US:

  • Daisaku Nomoto – bonsai work

Some of his thoughts on styling:

  • Displaying a shimpaku juniper
  • Daisaku Nomoto bonsai critique
  • Daisaku Nomoto bonsai award

A look at one of his workshops:

  • Hinoki workshop

First impression:

  • Big cuts

And notes from one of my favorite conversations with Daisaku:

  • Unwanted moss, or, Nomoto’s paradox

Future location of first branch
Indicating the future position of the branch

The fun starts tomorrow – post your questions now.

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Filed Under: Bonsai Care Tagged With: Daisaku Nomoto

Previous Post: « Hinoki forests and more at the 34th Taikan-ten
Next Post: Daisaku Nomoto AMA »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. crataegus says

    January 16, 2015 at 10:35 am

    This is a brilliant idea! Nomoto-san is one of the talents of the new generation in Japan, and a great instinct for teaching. What a great forum for questions! I’d really encourage folks to take advantage of this.

  2. nelibonsai says

    February 2, 2015 at 3:34 pm

    I would like to ask how they develop branching on gumi (eleagnus)

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      February 2, 2015 at 6:45 pm

      Hi Neli – that will have to wait for the next AMA. I’ll post a note if I come across good advice on developing branching on eleagnus.

      • nelibonsai says

        February 2, 2015 at 10:59 pm

        Thanks Jonas. I have a calendar in Japanese, for working on gumi. I have one with a sumo trunk in a small pot (bonsai size), but leaves go hay way in size. I cut them like rhomboids, the way we did in Japan, but stupid me never asked to develop them while there at school, though I worked on many of them. Just concentrated on pines and junipers. I have problem also with very coarse growth, and I suspect it is my fertilizing regime. Common sense tells me that probably I should stop fertilizing until the leaves harden and probably do much more hard cut backs, and trimming it more often. Maybe I should also do some defoliation for ramification???
        I dont want to kill it, and want to do it properly. I like it a lot!
        meanwhile I have some month 20+cm branch extension in a month.
        Here it is.
        https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200829465290980&set=a.10200673742918018.1073741911.1594227676&type=3&theater

  3. nelibonsai says

    February 2, 2015 at 11:02 pm

    If you click on the picture I posted you will see how it progressed from the beginning.

  4. nelibonsai says

    February 2, 2015 at 11:06 pm

    Sorry, click on previous comments also on top of the comments.

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