The 2011 Grandview Bonsai Exhibit, or Taikan-ten as it is generally known, was recently held at the Miyako-messe in Kyoto, Japan. The exhibit opened on Friday, November 25th, which means a lot of bonsai professionals – and amateurs – were busy on the 24th setting everything up. As fast as folks could set up their […]
Japan
Omiya Bonsai Art Museum and environs
The people of Saitama City pooled impressive resources to open the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum in 2010. Billed as the world’s first publicly-operated bonsai art museum, the museum is home to outstanding trees, pots, stands, and historical documents relating to bonsai. Their brochure claims that three principles form the pillars of the museum’s activities: 1) The […]
Styling a Japanese white pine
The first tree I worked on at Aichi-en was somewhat unusual. The second tree I worked on made the first tree look easy. From a distance, the white pine looked unremarkable. Japanese five-needle pine – front The tree’s exposed roots were covered by foliage in the front, but easy to see from the back. Japanese […]
Night auction
Towards the end of every month, bonsai professionals gather at a selected nursery for a night auction. The night auction is local to Central Japan and features material a step up from the 8 Auction, or Youkakai. Night auction The first thing I noticed is that trees and pots to be auctioned sat in a fairly […]
Black pine bonsai on display at Gomangoku
The 21st Gomangoku, Daiju-en’s annual bonsai exhibit in Okazaki, Aichi, featured some great Japanese black pines. The Suzuki family, and the apprentices who studied with them, are well known for their pine work. Getting to see the trees up close, to carry them, study them, and think about them, was a great experience. I’ve long […]