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 […]
Japan
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 […]
Final stroll through the Taikan-ten sales area
Many businesses in Japan announce closing time by playing a song called Hotaru no Hikari – The Light of the Firefly. It’s based on the tune of Auld Lang Syne. When the tune begins, you know it’s time to wrap up whatever is going on. It’s hard to leave a good bonsai show at the […]