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Shohin School Winter Seminar recap

February 12, 2023 by Jonas Dupuich

A few weeks ago, Andrew Robson and I hosted the first Shohin School seminar at the Milwaukie Center in Milwaukie, Oregon.

The two-day event focused on shohin display (Saturday) and development (Sunday). Our special guest for the weekend was shohin professional Daisaku Nomoto from Miyazaki, Japan.

(All photos are courtesy Aki Yamakawa – thanks, Aki!)

Daisaku Nomoto with Jonas and Andrew

Special guest Daisaku Nomoto with hosts Jonas and Andrew

Daisaku led the group through good and bad examples of Japanese displays to offer an idea of what makes good displays tick.

Daisaku

Daisaku breaking down a shohin display from a recent Gafu-ten exhibit

Participants then got a chance to create their own displays with stands provided for the exercise.

Participants' trees

Participants’ trees

Once the the displays were set up, Daisaku provided critiques and offered suggestions for improvement.

Mini bonsai display

Mini bonsai display

Reid

Reid introducing a group display

Andrew, Daisaku, and John

Daisaku instructing Thing (John Eads) about scroll display height

Scott

Scott introducing a group display

Between sessions, participants shopped from vendors Vicki Chamberlain, John Eads, Mary Lai, Nao Tokutake, Andrew Robson, Daisaku Nomoto, and Bonsai Tonight.

Tokutake Bonsai

Tokutake Bonsai

Daisaku's booth

Daisaku’s booth

The day wrapped up with dinner and drinks at local food truck emporium Corner 14.

Sunday’s focus was on recognizing and developing quality shohin bonsai. The morning featured an evaluation exercise in which participants scored trees and learned what characteristics to look for in different species.

Evaluation exercise

Evaluation exercise

After lunch, Andrew and I provided tips for shohin care and development and reviewed strategies for building a shohin collection. The seminar ended with a bring-your-own tree workshop.

Jonas and Andrew

Andrew and I answer questions about shohin care and development

Daisaku

Daisaku working on a shimpaku juniper
(photo from Friday open house at Andrew Robson’s garden)

Participant feedback has been positive and Andrew, Daisaku, and I had a fantastic time – so much so that we’re planning to do it again next January (see the Shohin School website for details)!

In the meantime, check out the following video from the event by Momiji-En Bonsai & Garden.

✕

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Filed Under: Excursions Tagged With: Shohin

Previous Post: « Highlights from the 41st BABA Exhibition
Next Post: Highlights from the 2023 California Shohin Seminar exhibit »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Vance Hanna says

    February 13, 2023 at 11:50 am

    Jonas! Outstanding !!
    So nice to see you again at the Santa Nella Shohin show a few weeks back!
    Vance Hanna

  2. Ron Cascisa says

    February 19, 2023 at 12:48 pm

    Looks like it was very well done and received! Kudos to the instructors and organizing team!

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      February 20, 2023 at 9:13 pm

      Thanks, Ron!

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