For every highly stylized Japanese bonsai, there's one like this that breaks the mold. It's a Japanese red pine from Japan's 80th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition (2006).
The other Japanese pine. Japanese black and white pines comprise some of the most famous bonsai in the world. And thousands that aren’t so famous. Japanese Red pines (Pinus densiflora) are much less common in bonsai circles, but judging by the ones shown here and some others we’ve seen along the way, they have no problem holding their own.
All the photos shown here are Japanese red pines from Japan’s famous Kokufu-ten Bonsai Exhibition. We found them on Michael Bonsai. Michael (aka Michael Mehrmann) has been posting excellent photos from Japan for some time now.*
It's easy to see how the Red pine got its name.
Another crazy trunk. Though, if you look at the branching, this one is even less stylized than the one at the top of the post.
Saving the best for last. If I had to play favorites, I'd chose this one and the one at the top of the post. BTW: Have you noticed how almost all the trees in this post are in reddish pots? I suspect that's no coincidence.
* I don’t know where Michael got these photos (perhaps from the Kokufu 80 album?). Which brings up the question of attribution. Not only is it a good idea to attribute artists (or owners) of posted bonsai whenever possible, but the same goes for the photographer. And, with or without all that information, it never hurts to post your source as well.
Given our 20% to 30% off Site Wide Sale
this would be a very good time to add this classic
and other quality books to your bonsai library
List price 29.95
our discounted price 24.95
now only 19.96 with our 20% off Site Wide Sale
(even less with larger orders)