One of the most valuable aspects of a visit to the Kokufu exhibit is the opportunity to study great trees in person. Just looking at a handful of pines, for example, can reveal very different approaches to creating branch structures and silhouettes. Let’s start by looking at four medium-size trees. The first tree has very […]
Kokufu
Accents displayed at the 94th Kokufu-ten
If you look next to every great tree at the Kokufu bonsai exhibit, you’ll find a small companion plant at its side. Korean hornbeam display Accent plants, or shitakusa (“under weeds”) as they are known in Japanese, accompany every display at the Kokufu-ten. Accents can feature one or more species, and they are typically planted […]
Prize-winning trees from the 94th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition
The Kokufu-ten is Japan’s top bonsai exhibit. It’s presented in two halves. One hundred and fifty-one displays are set up for a few days, then another one hundred and fifty-one displays are set up after a day-off to facilitate the change. The quality of the trees on display is outstanding. I could share photos of […]
A historic spruce at the 94th Kokufu exhibition
This year’s Kokufu exhibition featured a special display of books and posters from early exhibits. Posters from early Kokufu exhibitions I only glanced at the posters on my first visit to the show before quickly moving on to the next display. On my second pass through the exhibit, I looked closely at the tree displayed […]
A list of Kokufu Prize winning bonsai
Some time ago, Alexi Goranov asked if I’d be interested in a list of trees that have won Kokufu prizes. I was. I was curious what varieties these trees were and interested in flipping through old books to see what the winning trees looked like. The index includes show number and year, variety, style and […]