My visits to Japan for the Kokufu exhibit aren’t limited to bonsai excursions. One of my favorite side trips is just a few flights of stairs up from the show.
The Japan Suiseki Exhibition has, in its seven year history, quickly become the suiseki show to catch in Japan.
Here is a small selection of the stones on display. I’ll share more photos from the event in the next post.
Neo Kikka seki – Neo river chrysanthemum stone named “Emporer Mountain”
Abegawa batei seki – Abe river horseshoe-shaped stone
Neo Kikka seki – Neo river chrysanthemum stone
Kamogawa ishi – Kamo river stone
Neo Kikka seki – Neo river chrysanthemum stone
Most, but not all of the stones on display are from Japan. The following suiseki were among the international entries.
Cai River stone – Vietnam
Mojave Desert stone – William N. Valavanis, USA
The next two stones are from the collection of the late Mas Nakajima.
Trinity River stone shown by Janet Roth, USA
Eel River stone shown by Samuel Edge, USA
It was great to see Mas’ work displayed in Japan. You can learn more about Mas Nakajima at the Suiseki Art website.
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Don Batts says
It appears that each stone has a wooden slab exactly machined to hold just that stone.
Jonas Dupuich says
That’s right – it’s common to create a “Daiza” or pedestal for each stone to keep it at the desired viewing angle. They’re typically built by craftspeople who specialize in daiza for suiseki, but sometimes the stone collectors, like Mas Nakajima, for example, make their own daiza.
Jim MacNally says
Those were and are absolutely amazing.
Pumpkin Becki says
I do love these, they remind me of the Bonsai Mountains described by Terry Pratchett in his Discworld series of books
“Brutha had never heard about the art of bonsai and how it was applied to mountains.”
“Brutha took the tiny mountain. It had a strange, unreal heaviness – to his hand it felt like a pound or so, but in his head it weighed thousands of very, very small tons.”
– Terry Pratchett, Small Gods