We visited the opening of the 2014 Satsuki Festival sponsored by the Japan Satsuki Association in Ueno Park. The location of the exhibition is near the entry way to the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Gallery where the now annual Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition is held. Our group arrived early to avoid crowds and take photos.

 

Several large open-air structures housed more than two hundred Satsuki bonsai. On the last row vendors set up selling Satsuki pre-bonsai as well as small and large trained masterpieces. Some tools and supplies were also offered. The display area was on a smooth white granite floor, which reflected the intense heat up to the visitors. It’s a good thing there was a Starbuck coffee shop adjacent to the exhibition, where many took a few moments to become refreshed before returning to study the bonsai.

In the sales area I noticed two different Satsuki cultivars with most unusual blossoms, one with dissected pink petals and the other with light yellow, almost green small flowers.

 

Of particular interest were the beautiful and varied companion plantings, some with common perennials and others with unknown species. The fresh spring green grasses were most impressive and added to the aesthetic appreciation of the colorful Satsuki bonsai.