I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a bunjin style bonsai in such a deep pot. You almost always see them in shallow round or near-round pots. No problem though, this one works to perfection; a spectacular tree with a simply lustrous pot. I think the heavy foliage (unusual for a bunjin) helps balance the heavy pot.
Thanks again to Mr. Tea
The photos in this post are all courtesy of Peter Tea, our current favorite bonsai apprentice (nothing personal to the rest of our apprenti in Japan, it’s just that Peter keeps sending great stuff).
Meifu-ten, a show for hobbyists and collectors
It seems like most Japanese bonsai shows are for collectors and professionals, so it’s refreshing to see photos from a show that features collectors and hobbyists’ trees. Here’s some of what Peter has to say about the show: January 14-16 was the 82nd Annual Meifu-ten Bonsai show in Nagoya Japan. Meifu-ten is the second oldest show in Japan behind Kokufu-ten and this year exhibited over 170 trees. All the trees belong to hobbyists and collectors. The average attendance of for the three day show is about 7 thousand (Not too shabby!)…. here’s the rest.
7,000 per day!
In case you were wondering, bonsai is alive and well in Japan.
A very distinctive Kokonoe Japanese white pine. I’ve seen other trees with dominant first branches that seem to break bonsai conventions. but this one really goes out on a limb (so to speak). And then there’s that extraordinarily powerful lower trunk.
Too sweet! It’s a Japanese red pine (in a traditional style bunjin pot).
It’s not that most of the trees in the show are bunjin, it’s just that we’ve got a soft spot for them. This one’s a Shimpaku juniper. All the deadwood action around the base (and perhaps another feature or two), makes for a very unusual bunjin.
Wayne,
I have seen this before in older bonsai books. It must have been the norm or a trend many years ago.
Geof
Hi Wayne
Could you please pass on my thanks to Peter for taking the time to complie this fanstic bonsai display, his posts are always interesting.
If anyone is travelling in Australia /NSW / Mid North Coast Coffs Harbour in May on the 5th /6th.
Tokonoma Bonsia Society are having their 30th Anniversary show on that weekend.
In the Coffs Harbour Botanical Gardens, with four clubs involved.
An email address for more information. razoredge@optus.com.au
Regards
John C Australia
What you call a bunjin style doesn’t pass the test for me as bunjin.
You are right to call attention to the too deep pot.
It almost works, because the foliage mass is also sizable.
The pot is nice.
The twisted trunk is great.
The foliage mass is well groomed and looks great.
My problem with it is putting them all together.
The trunk is too thin to visually support the mass of the branches and foliage.
The trunk is too thin to visually support the mass of the pot.
I would love to have this bonsai and would scratch my head over how to solve the dilemma.
A pot about half the depth would solve half of the problem.
How to manage the other half without ruining the bonsai would be the harder problem to solve.
Beautiful bunjin – and you said it yourself “the keys to understanding bunjin are the notions of simplicity and elegance. These qualities arise as expressions of freedom; freedom from conventional and habitual way thinking, doing and seeing”.
Geoffrey,
Yes. You’ll often see what look like over-potted trees in older books. The trend has clearly been to smaller and smaller pots for showing bonsai. Some almost ridiculously small. Of course, the trees are taken out of these small pots immediately after the show and put back into pots that allow them enough space to grow and stay healthy.
Thanks John,
I’ll post your event in our next Weekly Wire.
It might be best for you thank Peter yourself. There’s a link to his blog in the body of this newsletter. You can put your thanks in the comments.
Hi Alan,
Yeah, I agree, sort of. Still, in spite of what could be seen as flaws, there is something very compelling about this tree just as it is.
Thanks Ann,
You dug out an old quote from somewhere. For me, the notion still works, with this tree and others. However, I wonder how the old Japanese bunjin masters would break this tree down (if memory serves, the quote come from a discussion about bonsai that originally appeared in Bonsai Today, that included critiques on bunjin by some Japanese bunjin artists).
Hi, I belong to Taree’s Bonsai Group and no-one seems to have a time, date or place that Coffs is holding a Bonsai Exhibition. I have heard March or May. Could someone please let me know. Thanks Regards Margaret
Hi Maragret,If you want to post a question on Bonsai Bark, you might want to post it in our LATEST post. https://bonsaibark.com/2012/02/18/much-more-than-just-shohin/
You chose an older post and I doubt anybody will see it.