On a visit to Aichi-en last fall, I saw a juniper that was a little too much. Twisty shimpaku The other side Aichi-en apprentice Juan Andrade wasn’t very convinced by this tree with artificial twists. Junichiro Tanaka, on the other hand, suggested that the tree might take on more character as it ages and prove to […]
Excursions
Excursion posts feature visits to bonsai gardens in the U.S. and in Japan, visits to the Kyoto's Most Renown Gardens, and trips into the mountains to see junipers and pines in their natural setting.
An old pot
The pots holding the bonsai at Shinji Suzuki’s garden were often as interesting as the trees. We learned the story of a few of these containers – others we appreciated on our own. One glazed pot looked like it had been around awhile. There were chips, cracks, mineral deposits and other signs of wear. There […]
Highlights from Shinji Suzuki’s garden
It’s inspiring to walk through a beautiful bonsai garden. Japanese maple A visit to Shinji Suzuki’s garden is a visit to a lot of really, really, good trees. Looking up at a Chinese quince The garden is arranged in a series of greenhouses with courtyards between them. In winter, nearly all bonsai are brought indoors […]
A beautiful garden in winter
Just one day after landing in Tokyo a few weeks ago, five of us caught a train to Obuse, Nagano prefecture, home of my favorite bonsai garden. Garden courtyard The garden is beautiful in winter. Snow came late this year, but enough fell before our visit that the grounds were blanketed in white when we arrived. […]
Living the bonsai life
I’m very excited to share photos from a recent trip to Japan. Here’s a taste. Large bonsai at Shinji Suzuki’s garden Before getting to that, however, I wanted to note, for those who haven’t heard, that I’m now doing bonsai full-time. I expect this year to be filled with a variety of fun bonsai activities […]