Oto Hime Japanese Maple for display

I spent all afternoon designing my three displays for the Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo next weekend in Kannapolis, NC. There is more than picking out a tree, table, wiping them off and hauling them to a show. Much more for me, which takes basic fundamental display knowledge, taste and considerable time. Plus you need to get everything to the exhibition in good condition.

Washington Hawthorn for display

The time spent this afternoon does not count the hours of preparing each of the bonsai. The exhibition moss still needs some hours to refine to perfection. The containers and display tables have been selected and need to be polished, as do all the containers.

Four story rotunda display area at the North Carolina Research Campus. Note large round table in center.

The main purpose of this afternoon’s task was to select the tablecloth color, scroll, accessory and stand for the accessory. Just picking out the right color felt was a task. Ever go to a JoAnn Fabric store on Thanksgiving weekend with hordes of shoppers with fists of coupons? The trees have not been detailed yet but will be finished in the days ahead. The scroll positioning and heights have not been decided yet. Please note these are NOT formal studio photos, they are just quick working shots to help me select the final elements in my personal displays of classical bonsai.

My two displays are on either side of the large round table in the center from 2017.

It is important to realize a couple of items about my displays. First, seasonality and second the total visual display area. My two tables area in the center of a four story rotunda surrounded by beautiful Cordoba marble. Each of my six foot tables is on either side of a huge round permanent valuable table from Hawaii which can’t be moved. Seven years ago I made the error of putting my sweet teacup on the table and I was instantly surrounded by security guards. So in order to present my entire display on two separate tables, between the permanent table, several items needed to be considered: tree species, display tables, direction, accessories, scrolls and tablecloth colors.

Oto Hime Japanese maple displayed with Japanese forest grass.

Although this is a “winter silhouette” display, technically it’s still autumn. Yes, we have already had 12 inches of snow and are under a winter weather advisory with another 8 inches of snow and ice expected by tomorrow evening. So a late autumn/early winter season theme has been determined for my three displays. Normally I would not display two deciduous species, but will for this special exhibition. The Oto Hime Japanese maple, Acer palmatum ‘Oto Hime,’ features twigs and the Washington hawthorn, Crataegus phaemopyrum, is full of red fruit. My third display is a pine, on the other side of a curtain, so not part of this display area. By the way pines do not indicate seasonality because they are always green. So seasonality has to be indicated using something else.

Oto Hime Japanese maple displayed with Yakushima dwarf pampas grass.

There were two display tables suitable for the maple and hawthorn bonsai, and although different colors, they were similar in design. So another display table for the hawthorn needed to be selected. Fortunately, I have several to choose from. The left table display features the maple which has a left to right eye movement towards the round center table. It originally had a small golden fern as the accessory. However, it seemed to blend into the green tablecloth color. A Yakushima dwarf pampas grass planted in a rock looked great, as did a Japanese forest grass with brown foliage indicating seasonality. Both are in unglazed symmetrical pots, which is in my taste when displaying a bonsai in an asymmetrical glazed container. Both were suitable for displaying with the maple. Of the two grasses, the Yakushima dwarf pampas grass was a bit more delicate than the Japanese forest grass, so that was the final selection.

Washington hawthorn displayed with golden fern which disappears in the green tablecloth.

However, the table on the right features a hawthorn which has a right to left eye movement towards the center table. It too looked good with both grasses. One of each could easily be utilized, but I did not want to duplicate two grasses. The Japanese forest grass looked good with the hawthorn, so I played around with the round disc stand to display it on. Two were of suitable size, one black and the other brown. Both are the same shape and size. The brown disc was finally selected because black stands indicate formality and this is an informal display.

Washington hawthorn displayed with Japanese forest grass on black disc.

Washington hawthorn displayed with Japanese forest grass on brown disc.

Washington hawthorn displayed with bronze incense burner

There was a bronze antique incense burner in the shape of a hut. I used this accessory several years ago and even had Xmas incense smoke rising from the window. Again, I did not want to use the same unique accessory, so it was eliminated.

Washington hawthorn displayed with Black mondo grass.

I continued to look around found a Black mondo grass planting in an antique white glazed Chinese container. The round shape is good, quality excellent, but I did not want to use two glazed containers in one display. That’s easy to correct, I’ll just change the accessory pot to an unglazed symmetrical shape to contrast with the glazed asymmetrical container of the hawthorn.

The scroll selection was next. The maple display season is late autumn so a scroll with a deer was studied. The direction of the deer was great, looking toward the bonsai. It even featured a hit of a Japanese maple turning red in autumn. Great, now the scroll for the hawthorn display season is early winter. An unusual scroll with a full moon among the clouds was excellent. It even has white snowflakes falling down. In spring I use this scroll and the snowflakes suddenly change to cherry blossoms falling. So now two scrolls were selected, but were about the same length which I wanted to avoid. Since the hawthorn was a taller bonsai the long scroll featuring the full moon and snowflakes was chosen. Then I had to look for another late autumn theme scroll which is shorter in length. Finally, I found a short scroll depicting Mt. Fuji with a small flock of geese migrating towards the bonsai.

Also, note there is one more display I have already designed, but was too heavy for me to move alone to photograph. If you want to see it, and my final display designs, join us on Saturday/Sunday at the Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo in Kannapolis, NC. Please note, I may change my designs again. Come see the final selections on Saturday or Sunday. There will be several lecture/demos, three rooms full of vendors and a FREE bonsai critique for exhibitors early on Sunday morning conducted by me.

Tokoname is one of the six old Japanese kilns which have continued to support Japanese living for over 1,000 years.  Tea pots and sewer pipes are the most famous items crafted and produced in the city of Tokoname, a bit south of Nagoya, Japan. Of course, most of the high-quality bonsai containers are also made here, but these pots are not the reason Tokoname is famous around the word.

Skilled and talented ceramic artists creating both traditional and contemporary bonsai containers have settled in this small town because the clay is good, strong and beautiful. The potters have been meeting the demand of Japanese professional bonsai artists for hundreds of years. The attention to detail, function and artistic design have made this city the center for container production in the world.

A few decades ago there were 30-40 kilns producing bonsai containers in Tokoname. Unfortunately, the introduction of Chinese pots has reduced the number of working kilns to about 10-15 today. There are many different quality levels of Tokoname pots. Some of the contemporary Chinese pots are better than the low quality Tokoname production pots. Their quality and pricing has made them very popular around the world, even in Japan. The Chinese potters have mastered techniques to produce large size pots. The size of bonsai around the world has been increasing because large trees are more available and commercially profitable.

Our tour group spent a wonderful day in the city of Tokoname visiting many of the top bonsai pot kilns. Many of these ceramic artists specialize in unique glazes they have created, perfected and are now famous for. Some of these potters are 4^th and 5^th generation artists with a history reaching back to 1889. While respecting their inherited traditions, the newer generation is always seeking ways to improve quality, reduce production costs as well as to add their own personality to the fine-quality pots they create. Many are now specializing in glazed containers while their father’s specialty were unglazed pots.

Shuho Kiln (Hidemi Kataoka)

Yamaaki Kiln (Hiroaki Inoue)

Reiho Kiln (Katsushi Kataoka)

Koyo Kiln (Kuniaki Aiba)

Shozan Kiln (Kazuhiro Watanabe)

Gyozan Kiln (Yukizyou Nakano)

It is interesting to note that several of the potters also have talented wives who are also skilled in making containers as well. And, some are well known for their unique shapes, paintings and sizes.

I was particularly impressed at the Ikko Kiln where Mr. Watanabe’s wife also creates exquisite mame three-inch size bonsai. Their creation and care more difficult than the common shohin bonsai. Mame bonsai are not often seen in Japan, and I found it a treat to appreciate these tiny jewels of the bonsai world.

Our entire tour group from Australia, Switzerland, California, Pennsylvania and New York spent a wonderful ten days enjoying fellowship, Japanese culture, bonsai and beautiful weather. Our next tours will visit Gafu Ten in January to see shohin bonsai, Kokufu Bonsai Ten in February and Nippon Bonsai Taikan Ten in November. If you would like to join Kora Dalager and me for an exciting, value-priced tour to experience the Japanese bonsai world, contact Bonsai Travel at: dalagerkora@gmail.com

Last week we visited the museum of bonsai artist Kunio Kobayashi in Tokyo. He had just returned from a convention in Viet Nam, but he still had the energy to welcome our group with his wife and curator of his museum, Jin Yasufumi.

Each time I visit this museum garden Mr. Kobayashi adds something new, a small garden display, new growing area on a roof or a koi pond. This time he recently added a large RED bridge crossing his koi pond. It’s heavy duty, a bit slippery, but I did not tumble over becoming food for the colorful large size fish.

Mr. Kobayashi’s museum features over a dozen alcoves where he formally displays bonsai, suiseki and art. Jin Yasufumi, who has been here for nine years showed us around the elegant museum explaining details people might have missed.

Long time friends Mrs. Kobayashi and Kora Dalager

Mr. & Mrs. Kobayashi treated us to a delicious Italian luncheon before Jin drove us to the Tokyo train station.

Of course, at the station I could not resist the temptation of a sweet tea at my favorite culinary emporium. Guess what, McDonalds in Japan does not have sweet tea! However, they do have ice tea and also small packets of sugary sweet syrup, which is not the same, but close enough when I need a fix. Please note I did NOT eat there, only ice tea. There IS a brand of ice tea Japan has which I love.

Did you notice the bottle is empty…

An important part of any bonsai exhibition around the world is the sales or vendor area. Most people visit to see and enjoy the trees, but they eventually end up in the sales area purchasing something for their collection. Even here in Japan I watch every year as people enter the Nippon Bonsai Taikan Exhibition and rush to the sales area in the back. Although most are foreigners, the others, especially Chinese are eager to buy. Vendors are a most important part of bonsai exhibitions; however, they rarely receive the recognition they deserve for bringing in the visitors.

Seiji Morimae, proprietor of S-Cube is a driving force of both the bonsai and suiseki communities in Japan. He can trace his ancestors 500 years back to the landscape and horticulture industry. Although primarily dealing with high end masterpiece bonsai he also has reasonably priced items, something for everyone. Mr. Morimae is eager to help foreigners better understand bonsai, suiseki as well as the art of bonsai display.

Each year he always has the largest sales area in the Nippon Bonsai Taikan Exhibitions and people flock to his displays, especially foreigners. This years his display gallery featured five masterpiece bonsai and two collections of containers. Several of the bonsai for sale are creations by Masahiko Kimura. This year, however, two Sargent juniper bonsai which Mr. Morimae personally branch grafted were displayed, and one was sold on Saturday afternoon. His other bonsai probably sold as well on Sunday or Monday.

Sargent juniper created by Shinji Suzuki which has won numerous awards and has been popular in exhibitions and print. The red tapes on the signs indicate the item has been sold. Sold US$180,000.

Japanese black pine shaped by Masahiko Kimura. Sold US$30,000.

Sargent juniper grafted by Seiji Morimae 18 years ago. Sold US$350,000. Mr. Funayama just added a new bonsai to his collection.

Sargent juniper shaped by Shino Kentaru. Sold US$58,000.

Sargent juniper grafted by Seiji Morimae 18 years ago. Not sold yet… US$230,000.

A collection of antique containers was individually sold.

This collection of 50 Tofukuji containers were sold as a set.

Across the aisle, S-Cube had another long sales table full of bonsai, containers, display tables and suiseki.

Unfortunately for visitors to future Nippon Bonsai Taikan Exhibitions, Mr. Morimae will not be having a gallery sales area, this is his last. Next year he will be opening a bonsai garden in a famous temple complex. I look forward to seeing what kind of magic and surprises he will come up with.

The sales area is huge!

Anything you could ever want, perhaps not afford, can probably be found in this sales area. Inexpensive pots, antique containers, tools, supplies, display tables, hanging scrolls, suiseki, antiques, pre-bonsai, masterpiece specimens and publications are all here for sale.

Gerald Rainville selling bonsai for his teacher Koji Hiramatsu. Both of these artists will be judges and demonstrators at the upcoming 2020 7th US National Bonsai Exhibition on September 12-13, 2020 in Rochester, New York.

This year there are five special displays in the Nippon Bonsai Taikan Exhibition.

Funayama Display

Mr. Funayama lives in the northern area of Japan and has large powerful evergreen bonsai. Mr. Morimae is his bonsai consultant.

Tanaka Display

This was the largest display in the exhibition presented in two parts, one on each side of the formal entrance to the show. Mr. Tanaka lives in Kyoto and has a large significant collection of bonsai named “Bonsai Keiunan.” The main theme of his display is to recognize bonsai from the past five eras of Japan: Meiji (1886), Taisho (1912), Showa (1926), Heisei (1989) and Reiwa (2019.) He is now building a bonsai museum in Kyoto scheduled to open in 2022. Guiding him and caring for his collection are Seiji Morimae and Shinji Suzuki.

A large Sargent juniper flanks the left side of part 1, with the poetic name of Hagoromo.

This is one of the most famous suiseki in Japan and has numerous owners. The name Hagoromo is the name of an old Noh play because the overall shape of the stone reminds the viewer of a dancer with an arm outstretched. While this suiseki is a figure stone, it is also a chrysanthemum stone. The kimono cloth covering the dancer is covered with small chrysanthemum flowers similar to fine quality brocade. Note the small, simple daiza presenting humility to the presentation.

The last bonsai on the right of part 1 of the display is a powerful Japanese black pine. The extremely rough bark is named “Gan Seki Sho,” or irregular rock like. This bonsai is considered to be approximately 300 years old and General Okuma once owned the masterpiece. This past February I saw Mr. Morimae sell this bonsai at the Ueno Green Club during the Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition for US $750,000.

Across the entrance was part 2 of Mr. Tanaka’s display. This Japanese five-needle pine was once owned by Daizo Iwasaki, a noted bonsai lover and bonsai promoter who worked hard for several decades to expand bonsai. He was an officer of the World Bonsai Friendship Federation and created the most famous bonsai and garden collection of Japan. The poetic name of this bonsai is “Takasago” which was also the name of his garden. Toshinori Suzuki, the father of Toru Suzuki named this bonsai. Does that make him the “God father?

Next on display in a poor-quality photograph, but significantly interesting is a series of three famous bonsai which were all past Kokufu Prize winning masterpieces. Toru Suzuki’s grandfather Saichi Suzuki, a pioneer of pine bonsai and the introducer of Zuisho Japanese five-needle pine worked on all three of these bonsai. Each one of these bonsai once grew and were displayed in this famous antique 400 year old Chinese container.

Next is a display of three bronze water basins made by Houn Harada. They represent his early, mid and late period of casting bronze. Yuji Yoshimura’s father, Toshiji Yoshimura, a leader of the bonsai and suiseki communities designed and commissioned many of these beautiful bronze water basins which are highly prized, and priced as well.

A collection of old famous Tofukuji bonsai containers considered to be one of the finest bonsai potters of old time and lived and worked in Kyoto. It is rare to see a collection like this. However, Mr. Morimae had a display of 50 Tofukuji containers in his S-Cube Bonsai Gallery sales area, but you are too late. The entire 50 piece collection was sold on the first day. More details in next blog.

Shigeru Yoshida was a Prime Minister who also loved bonsai and had a large collection. He was the first President of the Nippon Bonsai Association in the 1960’s. This magnificent chrysanthemum suiseki one belonged in his collection.

A large Japanese five-needle pine named “Dainagon” is considered to be 350 years old. The needle and bark characteristics are excellent, as well as the shape of the tree.

Honde Display

Mr. Honde’s display featured two cascade Japanese five-needle pine bonsai and three suiseki. Note how both bonsai are pointing towards the center of the display.

Teauchi Display

Mr. Teauchi’s display featured two Japanese flowering apricot bonsai and several suiseki. Although a beautiful display it seemed to me that the scrolls were more significant than the bonsai.

Saito Display

Akihisa Saito, a director of the Nippon Bonsai Association and his wife Harue have one of the finest and largest private bonsai collections in Japan. They have between 300 to 400 bonsai at their home in Okayama. Award winning bonsai artist Kenji Oshima, son of Mikio Oshima, from Okayama, is the curator of their collection.

Each year they have a special large special display at the Taikan Bonsai Exhibition. The theme changes yearly and features masterpiece bonsai from their collection. It also has beautiful and colorful framed contemporary Japanese paper cuts figures between the bonsai. In the past their special display each featured several masterpiece Hinoki cypress, Korean hornbeam, Japanese maple, Trident maple, Shishigashira maple, Twisted pomegranates and Rough bark Japanese maples last year.

This time Mr. Saito is sharing the beauty of four of his Japanese maple masterpieces. The weather here in Kyoto and Okayama has been quite warm and the colorful display of Japanese maple leaves has been delayed. They should be in peak color in a couple of weeks. Note that the leaves were not burned which is common with maple leaves during this time of the year.

Mr. and Mrs. Saito were joined by three lovely ladies who often travel together and make annual appearances at the Nippon Bonsai Taikan Exhibition.

Some impressive bonsai and displays from the 2019 39^thNippon Bonsai Taikan Exhibition in Kyoto, Japan.

 An ancient Sago palm, Cycas revoulta.

Rita and Mark Cooper next to their Trident maple bonsai in the exhibition!

My English walking tour on Saturday.

The 39^thNippon Bonsai Taikan Exhibition is being held on November 22-25, 2019 at the Miyako Messe Exhibition Hall in Kyoto, Japan. Shinji Suzuki is chairman again this year. Quite a bit of advance promotion was published in both print and social media. Hitomi Kawasaki, a bonsai researcher wrote an excellent five page illustrated article, plus the cover, of Enjoy Kyoto, a bimonthly English language guide to Kyoto. This must have worked because I noticed that there were more foreigners than Japanese at the ribbon cutting ceremony opening the exhibition and also throughout the day. Additionally, extensive ads in local Kyoto newspapers helped to promote this important and largest bonsai event in western Japan. The word “Taikan” means grand view.

Lots to report, so I’m going to share comments and photos in sequence, because it makes sense, at least to me. There are five special displays as well as an extensive sales area.

Large sinuous style rock planting of Ezo spruce created by Shinji Suzuki two years ago.

The majority of the set up was on Thursday. It was a busy day with a hoard of vendors setting up, while bonsai were moved around for the judging a 1:30pm. Studio photos were also being taken at the same time. All was well organized as they have had four decades of experience running this exhibition.

I’ve had numerous questions on the judging process so I’d like to explain how this exhibition selects the prize-winning bonsai. Before the final selection, the best three bonsai of the following categories are selected and set on long tables, each labeled: large, medium and small size evergreens, deciduous, satsuki, shohin bonsai, literati, rock plantings, forest plantings (only two entries and they were actually clump styles) and suiseki (daiza, water basins, figure and chrysanthemum stones.)

There were 13 judges from the sponsoring organizations, press, art galleries and three international judges, Harald Lehner (Germany), Zhang Xiabao (China) and me from America. I was quite honored to be invited again this year to offer my opinions. All the bonsai were lined up and the judges were sitting in front in a long row. As each category was announced a small clipboard and ballot were handed out and then collected after each judge simply put the tree number on the smalliece of paper. There were NO points, just select the best bonsai. Many of the trees were fine wire, lot of guy wires. Remember, this is not a dog show, it’s an art show of the highest caliber. This is how the professional exhibitions are evaluated in Japan, and they invented the bonsai evaluation process. People judging bonsai outside Japan make it more difficult.

I found it interesting that last year there was a tie between two trees. Instantly, the moderator took the two tree numbers and placed them behind his back and one judge selected a hand, which became the winner. The other tree also received a prize. This year there was only one entry in the chrysanthemum suiseki category. Rather than have all 13 judges get up and walk over to look at the one stone to vote, the moderator simply asked the judges to raise their hand to cast one vote. This saved lots of time and walking. Remember most of the judges are not too young, and one even had two broken feet in walking casts. I walked nearly four miles in the one room on Thursday alone.

The top Prime Minister Award Sargent juniper bonsai displayed by Shinji Suzuki, belonging to a client. This bonsai has been worked on by Matt Reel in 2014 when Kinbon Bonsai magazine did a photo essay oh his work.

Afterwards the bonsai were put in place and properly displayed. On Friday morning, fifteen minutes before the official opening they conducted a ribbon cutting ceremony. Only one short speech by the Mayor of Kyoto welcoming visitors, then they did something different this year, which I liked. Usually, immediately after the ribbon cutting ceremony the people cutting the ribbon are escorted into the exhibition followed by the public. This time the people cutting the ribbon stood by the side, welcoming visitors before they entered. As mentioned there were more foreigners at the ceremony than Japanese.

Because increased number of foreigners this year, in addition to Japanese language walking tours, of the exhibition conducted by Hitomi Kawasaki, they will have a couple conducted in English by me.

 Miss Hitomi Kawasaki, wearing a blue kimono, conducting a w.alking tour in Japanese.

My English language walking tour.

Here are a few images of trees and displays. I’ll share more later. Enjoy!

This year marks the 20^th anniversary that Kora Dalager and I have been leading value priced bonsai tours to Japan and Asia. Kora is a seasoned travel agent who has traveled the world and that is also a skilled and knowledgeable bonsai artist and teacher. She is especially interested in bonsai display and presents programs and workshops on companion plantings. I hasten to point out that both Kora and have individually led many bonsai tours for years before combining our talents to offer more interesting and economical explorations of the Japanese bonsai world and Asia.

S-Cube

During our first day in Japan, our eleven tour participants from Australia, Switzerland and the United States first visited Seiji Morimae’s S-Cube Bonsai Garden in Hanyu, Japan. He offers the widest selection of bonsai, containers, suiseki and accessories for display in Japan. A busy schedule keeps him hopping, but he, his family and staff always make time to welcome our tours to their special bonsai world.

This Sargent juniper and the next one featured were both grafted by Seiji Morimae 18 years ago. This is the first time the public has seen these masterpieces. They will be on sale at the Nippon Bonsai Taikan Exhibition.

As we were enjoying his hospitality and bonsai his staff was busy loading three large trucks packed full of bonsai, suiseki and containers for display and sale at the 39^th Nippon Bonsai Taikan Exhibition starting on Saturday in Kyoto. He will have the largest sales area/bonsai gallery in the exhibition as well as organizing several large private displays.

Masahiko Kimura Bonsai Garden

Our next stop was to meet Masahiko Kimura and visit his bonsai garden. Large, beautiful, heavy and powerful bonsai dominated his collection. However there were quite a number of newly made tall rock plantings created for Chinese and European exports.

Omiya Bonsai Art Museum

After a delicious lunch at the Bonsai Restaurant across the street from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum we visited their collections as well as the special Autumn Exhibit featuring Yuji Yoshimura and his pioneering bonsai education outside Japan.

Omiya Bonsai Village

Our tour members were then guided through the world-famous Omiya Bonsai Village by Kora Dalager while I remained at the museum to present my program on Yuji Yoshimura.

Mansei-en Bonsai Garden

This is the oldest bonsai garden in the Omiya Bonsai Village which is managed by Takahiro Kato,grandson of bonsai master Saburo Kato.

Seiko-en Bonsai Garden

Also well established, this garden is presently run by the fourth and fifth generation bonsai artists Tomio Yamada and his daughter Kaori.

Kyuka-en Bonsai Garden

Established by Kyuzo Murata, this garden is now operated by his son Isamu Murata and his grandson Yukio, second and third generation bonsai artists. This garden was not visited because Yukio Murata was translating my program at the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum on Yuji Yoshimura.

Fuyo-en Bonsai Garden

The final stop for this busy day was at the garden of Hiroshi Takeyama, second generation bonsai artist. He specializes in deciduous, unusual and forest planting bonsai.

On October 12 – November 24, the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum in Japan presented an Autumn Special Exhibition to commemorate the 10^th Anniversary and Sister Museum Partnership with the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum in Washington, DC. The Omiya Bonsai Art Museum featured bonsai Pioneer Yuji Yoshimura, second generation bonsai artist from Tokyo who, with the encouragement of his father, left Japan to teach Westerners classical Japanese bonsai. To date, the Japanese bonsai community has not recognized the unique and significant contribution Yuji Yoshimura made to expand the beauty and understanding of bonsai outside Japan.

The special exhibition room was the venue for this special exhibit to honor Yuji Yoshimura. Museum curator Dr. Fumiya Taguchi traveled to Rochester, New York in August to gather documents, photos and other historical artifacts for the exhibit from my bonsai reference library. He truly did an exceptional job in organizing and presenting the exhibit.

Yuji Yoshimura’s youngest brother, Kazumasa, and daughter Yoko watching the video.

Included in the exhibit was a video of Yuji Yoshimura’s demonstration at a Florida bonsai convention. Yuji Yoshimura’s youngest brother Kazumasa sat and watched as his eldest brother worked his magic teaching and demonstrating bonsai. Probably the only time he saw him with bonsai. Yuji Yoshimura’s two daughters, Yoko from Boston traveled for the exhibit along with her daughter Sasha, and Emi from Tokyo attended the exhibition and my program. In total nine members of the Yoshimura family visited the exhibit and attended my program.

My program on Tuesday, November 19, 2019 was limited to 40 people by reservation only. Over 50 people eventually filled the room with standing room only. Unfortunately, some individuals could not be accommodated. Dr. Thomas Elias, a past director of the US National Arboretum and his wife attended my program. A landscape architect from Osaka, Japan traveled to learn about Yuji Yoshimura along with the Saitima City press and representatives from two major bonsai publications.

Here is a synopsis of my program:

Memories of Japanese Father, “Mr Y.”

Yuji Yoshimura taught me for 30 years and opened my eyes and mind to the beautiful world of classical Japanese bonsai art which is now my passion and am sharing with people all over the world, like Mr Y instructed me to.

The story begins with Yuji Yoshimura’s father Toshiji Yoshimura who was one of the pioneers of the modern Japanese bonsai world. He apprenticed with Yonikichi Kibe at the Taiko-en Bonsai Garden and established his Kofu-en Bonsai Garden in Tokyo at the end of his studies in 1924. He was quite active and played an important part of establishing the Nippon Bonsai Association and the Nippon Suiseki Association.

My translator, Yukio Murata, checking to see how low his grandfather, Kyuzo Murata was bowing to Toshiji Yoshimura.

 Mr & Mrs Toshiji Yoshimura with their 12 Children. Yuji Yoshimura is first on the left.

Yuji Yoshimura was born in 1921 at the Taiko-en Bonsai Garden while his father was still an apprentice. As the eldest son of 12 children his parents were very strict and made him weed the garden before going to school. This strict and rigid upbringing played an important part of his unique character and integrity. Mr Y was interested in drawing and later in life, music. Ikebana and tea ceremony were also studied. He worked and learned from his father and later graduated from the Tokyo Horticultural School in 1938. Later he would draw upon his solid background to establish his own concept of classical bonsai art.

When Yuji Yoshimura was 19 years old he rode his bicycle from Tokyo to Omiya Bonsai Village to visit Kyuzo Murata, Kyuka-en Bonsai Garden and purchase a special water pool suiseki. At that time, in the early 1940s the suiseki had been appreciated for over 150 years as an art object. Forty years later I was able to add this special suiseki to my collection. I returned it to Japan six years ago for the 1^st Japan Suiseki Exhibition. Dr. Taguchi brought it back to Japan for this exhibit.

Mr Y was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, spending five years in the cavalry, teaching his troops horsemanship. Mr. Y had a clever red horse which he loved and in fact, the horse saved his life then died.

Yuji Yoshimura’s youngest brother, Kazumasa, is standing in the front row wearing a hat. He was in the front row during my program.

Upon returning from his Army experience in 1948, he established Naka Meguro Kofu-en, separate from his father’s garden. Mr Y met Alfred Koehn, a German Diplomat and author and in 1952 together they offered the first bonsai class for the public at his bonsai garden. The six-week course was a hit and within three years over 600 foreigners learned from Mr Y. The course was filled with diplomat’s wives who enjoyed the hobby. In decades to come, a few of these students returned to America and continued with bonsai.

One of his students from England, Mrs. Halford, studied bonsai with him for two years and later assisted him with his book “The Japanese Art of Miniature Trees and Landscapes” in 1957. This was the first authoritative book on bonsai in English and is now in its 45^th printing. This book was the first book to translate and classify bonsai styles which is still in use today around the world.

Mr Y, now 37 years old, arrived in America in December 1958 after a month’s ship ride. He remained in America for the next 39 years of his life and brought 22 cases of bonsai, seeds, tools and other items needed to teach bonsai. His first class in America was in January 1959 at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Later that year The Yoshimura Bonsai Company opened at one of his student’s home near New York City. Later he moved to the Detmer Nursery with more room to teach classes and grow bonsai where he created thousands of bonsai.

Yuji Yoshimura teaching in California in the early 1960s.

He lived simply and had a busy teaching schedule at the New York Botanical Garden and at his nursery. Mr Y also made several teaching trips to Australia, India, Hong Kong, Hawaii and England. Few people know the tremendous amount of time he took to prepare for his classes and programs. In the early days, he made yearly visits by car to teach in California.

The bicentennial gift of 53 bonsai and 6 suiseki from Japan to the United States started the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum.

In 1973, he presented a demonstration at the US National Arboretum and spoke about his dream to have a bonsai museum in the nation’s capital. Well, the dream was realized and we now the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum. To honor his lifetime of contributions to bonsai art the Yoshimura Lecture/Demonstration Center was opened. Today demonstrations and the many bonsai in the collections are worked on in the center. When the North American Bonsai Pavilion opened Mr Y donated a Zelkova he trained and a Crape Myrtle which his father started many decades before.

The Omiya Bonsai Art Museum and National Bonsai & Penjing Museum  Sister Museum ceremony.

Mr Y inherited his love of suiseki from his father and now that bonsai was established in America decided to also promote stone appreciation. Together with a student they co-authored “The Japanese Art of Stone Appreciation.” He often used stones in rock planting bonsai and bonkei. Later on, he expanded his use of stones in garden landscapes. Together with him we sponsored the very first Stone Appreciation Seminar in Rochester, New York.

Mr Y passed away on Christmas eve 1997. The National Bonsai Foundation established the Yuji Yoshimura Fund to honor his contributions for educational purposes. To date that fund has raised over $375,000 for the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum. Additionally, the National Bonsai Foundation has raised and donated over $6,000,000 to the museum. In 2005 the Yuji Yoshimura Fund sponsored Arishige Matsurua, Director of the Nippon Suiseki Association to travel to America to teach suiseki.

In June 2015, the US National Arboretum honored Mr Y by inducting him into the National Bonsai Hall of Fame honoring him and recognizing people who made valuable contributions to bonsai in the United States. They have dedicated their lives to bonsai who achieve national excellence and contributed to the advancement of bonsai in America. He was the second person in the National Bonsai Hall of Fame. The first was John Naka a famous and beloved bonsai artist from California.

So, we have come to the end of honoring Yuji Yoshimura. He was the direct link between Japanese classical bonsai and the progressive Western approach. He spent his entire life promoting classical bonsai sacrificing a great deal for bonsai; his family, health, comfort and personal relationships. His success cannot be judged by standards. He reached the top of his field, something few achieve.

Yuji Yoshimura took his knowledge, skill, education and strength of his artistic genius to forge ahead classical Japanese bonsai art. I feel honored and blessed to have learned from him and specially to talk about him today.

The Yoshimura family and one Greek at the program.

I’d like to thank Dr. Taguchi and the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum for hosting this special exhibition and for asking me to present these thoughts. Kyuzo Murata’s grandson, Yukio, third generation proprietor of Kyuka-en Bonsai Garden in Omiya Bonsai Village did the excellent task of translating my program. I began my program in my poor Japanese, which could not be understood and Yukio completed the lecture in proper Japanese. I was greatly honored for this opportunity and appreciate the significant statement that after 60 years the Japanese bonsai community has finally recognized Yuji Yoshimura’s pioneering bonsai education and great contributions to the world of bonsai art.

There is less than a month away from one of the finest bonsai exhibitions in the country. Now is the time to make plans to visit the Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo in Kannapolis, North Carolina, near Charlotte, on Saturday and Sunday 7-8, 2109.

This special exhibition is held in an elegant venue covered with marble walls and floors at the North Carolina Research Lab. The four story building is a unique venue to display bonsai. Consider attending this superb FREE exhibition featuring naked bonsai. Most of the bonsai are deciduous species without foliage so the branch structure and buds can be appreciated. The bonsai come from a wide range and there are often species not commonly seen. Like Larch which are difficult to grow in southern areas. Although the bonsai are beautiful, this exhibition offers the opportunity for artists to present their bonsai displays creatively. All bonsai and displays do not need to be in the classic Japanese style, only with good design and taste. I look forward to what unusual and creative displays the bonsai artists will show soon.

Along with other professional bonsai artists, Rodney Clemons, Tyler Sherrod and Owen Reich, we will be presenting individual lecture demonstrations during the two day event. My Saturday program will cover Classical Upright Bonsai Design and I’ll be working on a Scots Pine for the demonstration.

On Sunday morning I’ll be again leading a FREE critique of the entire exhibition. Topics to be discussed are the displays, bonsai refinement and techniques for growing and training the bonsai. Of course, this will be an interactive educational program and all comments are welcome for discussion. It’s really a great activity and people seem to like and learn from it.

Like most bonsai exhibitions, one of the most important and popular areas are the vendors. There are the three rooms filled with vendors offering their finest plants, containers and more. This is just in time for Xmas shopping. Yes, you can buy yourself an early Xmas gift.

This FREE event is sponsored and organized by bonsai hobbyist Steve Zeisel because he wants to promote bonsai in the region and display the beauty of deciduous bonsai. There is no admission fee and the proceeds from the auction on Saturday afternoon, at the conclusion of the demonstration, hopefully, pays for this popular event.

Join us for the 7^th Winter Bonsai Silhouette Expo on December 7-8, 2019, now a recognized national show. Photos here are from past exhibitions. Although these photos feature deciduous bonsai, there are some evergreens as well. It would be too boring to have only naked trees, variety is needed for a well designed show.

For additional information:

www.winterbonsai.net