2023 97th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition- Part 2

We spent our second full day of visiting Part 1 of the 2023 Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition and the Ueno Green Club sales area of the Nippon Bonsai Growers Cooperative.

Today we woke up to snow flurries which later in the morning became a bit heaver, just like our May weather conditions in Rochester, New York. I hate cold weather and even more SNOW, although I think it is decretive, especially on Xmas cards. The snow became a bit heavier and the outdoor sales area were empty. Marco Invernizzi and friends set up a heated café in the back of a truck near their sales area.

After lunch, the snow turned to rain and persisted through our evening walk to dinner. But we took a taxi home.

The exhibition attendance was quite sparse, but ideal for studying the trees, especially when trying to capture the essence of their beauty in a digital format to share with others around the world.

Special exhibit: Japanese Black Pine from the Imperiaollection

Special exhibit: Japanese Flowering Quince by the honorary President of the Nippon Bonsai Association

Throughout the four galleries of exhibited bonsai I noticed a small glass cup behind ever other of the bonsai compositions, hidden behind a rear leg of the bonsai display tables. Guess they were not hidden too well, as I noticed them and many other interesting things throughout the exhibition. Originally, I thought they contained water for extra humidity in the heated galleries. About the same time, I noticed Adam Jones, originally from Pennsylvania, and now living in Japan after studying bonsai with three generations of the Saburo Kato family in Omiya Bonsai Village. He married a Japanese lady and has started a family and a bonsai garden teaching and preparing bonsai for exporting in a quarantine greenhouse. The garden is centered around his beautiful ancient 200 year old home. His business, Tree House Bonsai, sells through the internet and does mail order as well. He can be contacted through his website, www.treehousebonsai.com He is the only Westerner professional bonsai artist doing business in Japan.SSSSS

Since Adam is bilingual and knows, I asked him about the glass cups. He said they contain Biochar (charcoal) to help the trees stay healthy with purified air. Apparently one of leaders of the Nippon Bonsai Association has a business selling Biochar. I use it in my soil mixes.