My final stop in Kyushu brought me to Mr. Adachi’s garden. As soon as we arrived, I noticed a small patio out front with some nice deciduous shohin bonsai. Shohin ‘Chojubai’ They were very interesting. Chojubai grown from cutting Mr. Adachi loves growing small trees. Really loves it. Only recently retired, Adachi spent much of […]
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.
Junipers and maples at Nomoto Chinshou-en
Although Daisaku Nomoto is well known for his pine work, he’s also a big fan of junipers and deciduous varieties. Walking through his nursery was a great opportunity to see trees that were well developed next to trees still in the project phase. Large shimpaku Shimpaku Shimpaku with great deadwood Shimpaku […]
Chojubai and white pine from Nomoto Chinshou-en
Tsutomu Nomoto started Nomoto Chinshou-en on his birthday in 1973. Bonsai had been a family hobby for several generations but it wasn’t until Tsutomu turned away from veterinary medicine – the default line of work for his family – that the hobby became a business. Tsutomu studied at Nakanishi Chinshou-en in Shikoku’s Kinashi bonsai district (more at […]
Nomoto Chinshou-en
For those curious about my visits to so many Kyushu bonsai gardens, the answer is simple – Daisaku Nomoto. In addition to hosting the Kyushu portion of my recent visit to Japan, long-time friend and teacher Nomoto designed an itinerary to suit my interest in developing bonsai from scratch. So instead of visiting some of the top […]
Chojubai
In addition to growing white and black pines, Mr. Iwakiri has a fondness for deciduous trees – chojubai in particular. Japanese flowering quince – chojubai Iwakiri offered some details about how he’s developed these trees. Many of the clump-style specimens are actually bundles of cuttings from the same tree that have grown together for 20-30 years. […]