Bonsai Tonight

An educational website about bonsai development

A visit to Kimura’s bonsai garden

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I’m glad I made it to Masahiko Kimura’s garden this year. I had an hour before the sun went down which was just enough time to visit some of my favorite trees and take a few photos.

Posing with a black pine

Posing with a Japanese black pine

Looking closely at the trees in Kimura’s garden reveals the characteristics we prize most in bonsai – aged bark, twisting deadwood, and dense branch ramification.

Twisty juniper

Twisting shimpaku juniper

Red pine

Gnarled red pine

Many of the trees in the garden are prize-winners from Japan’s most prestigious exhibitions, but simply stating that doesn’t do them justice. Kimura’s best trees are interesting, beautiful, and unique.

Yew

Japanese yew

Red pine

Japanese red pine

Not feeling pressed for time, I quietly studied the trees that caught my attention – by far my favorite way to learn bonsai.

Shimpaku

Shimpaku juniper

Deciduous bonsai

Deciduous bonsai

When it was time to go, I looked around the garden as if to lock in the memory and headed out towards the nearest train station.

White pine

White pine

Up next: a different kind of garden

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Comments

  1. Thank You Jonas for sharing, its so nice to see these trees. Wow spectacular!!!!!!

    I’m going to Japan next year if I can, things should calm down by then……..I hope.

    Your lucky to have gone and back before all of the restrictions.

  3. Jonas, I understand you’ll be down south for a session with Dai Ichi Bonsai Kai in the fall. I look forward to meeting you.

    Any thoughts on the species/style/stage of tree I should bring to work on?

    • Thanks Robert! Fall is a great time to work on almost everything so I’d bring any trees you have questions about – pines, junipers, deciduous, or broadleaf evergreens can be worked on in October.