The bonsai museum at Shinpukuji Temple features some great tosho, or needle juniper. Here are some of my favorites. Boon and tosho Many needle juniper bonsai are collected. Among the most prized features are knobby deadwood – ibo-jin, or wart-jin, in Japanese – and thin life lines with good movement. Ibo-jin Needle juniper Formal upright […]
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.
Shinpukuji Bonsai Museum
The Shinpukuji Temple complex features a small bonsai museum that displays a rotating collection of trees belonging to Mr. Oomura. My first few visits to the garden were in winter. On these occasions the indoor display area was filled with blooming ume. This past fall, the hall included a mix of varieties and a fun selection of […]
Shinpukuji Temple Complex
My visit last year to Japan began at Shinpukuji Temple. Not far from Okazaki, Aichi, Shinpukuji is a collection of buildings that includes a large temple and an old wooden shrine. A restaurant on the grounds serves bamboo delicacies, and a bonsai museum offers colorful diversion. The custodian of Shinpukuji is Mr. Oomura. Oomura’s family […]
Moriyama’s bonsai garden
My visit to Japan last fall included a number of visits to Mr. Moriyama’s garden. Often there were trees to pick up or drop off so we’d swing by on our way elsewhere. Other days we’d stay awhile – like the day we helped reorganize a section of the garden and tied trees to benches. […]
Highlights from Moriyama’s bonsai collection
Mr. Moriyama is prominent among Nagoya bonsai collectors for good reason. He has an outstanding collection and he is a great supporter of both local and regional bonsai events, his trees featuring in at least five of the exhibits I visited last fall. At home, these trees are crowded into a beautiful garden setting. If […]