The 35th Nippon Taikan Bonsai Exhibition runs from Saturday through Tuesday. I was fortunate to have the privilege to watch the judging all day on Friday, before the exhibition officially opened, and attend all day on Saturday and Sunday. A few of the trees changed a bit with the autumn coloring and some dropped their leaves as well. I learned a great deal during the past three days and saw many long time friends, both from around the world and Japan.
Japanese rose! I’ve never seen such a large s ize beautifully trained Japanese rose bonsai, and I’ve seen a lot. But was also surprising is that this award winning bonsai, (best deciduous bonsai) did not have a “proper” display table. OK, so someone made a wooden box and covered it with purple cloth, I can understand that. However it is too SHORT for the long cascading branch which is touching the table top. There is nothing wrong with innovation and creativity, but to make it too short is a mystery to me. Perhaps they ran out of wood, cloth or money? Anyways, a superb masterpiece Japanese rose which gave me much pleasure and a surprise. I’m always learning.
Of course there was a sales area! Someone had to pay the high rent and also for the exorbitant electric bill for the great lighting.
Trident maple
Multi colored dwarf Star Jasmine
Sekka dwarf hinoki cypress
Japanese maple, NOT Trident maple, a beauty!
I’m quite interested in the appreciation of bonsai through the art of display. Companion plants are commonly displayed with bonsai to enhance the display. I’m currently working on my ninth bonsai book, this time on the display of bonsai. So, many photos of companion plants were taken, perhaps a few might be used for the new book. In the meantime enjoy the beauty of these small jewels which are nearly essential for bonsai display. They are most commonly used to suggest seasonality especially with evergreens which don’t change much during the year. Some species turn “bronze” during cold weather (for protection) and can indicate winter, however. A hanging scroll or painting is also used to denote the season with evergreens as can an accessory (ornament, other art or natural object.)
These are the last group of photos of the exhibition for this blog. I hope you enjoyed looking at the beautiful Japanese classical bonsai as much as I have for three days- wish it could have been more. Finer quality photos will appear in a future International Bonsai issue.
