The King of Bonsai

Full cascade Japanese black pine (Pinus thumbergii). Japanese for Black pine is Kuromatsu (kuro is black and matsu is pine). Japanese black pines are sometimes referred to a the king of bonsai. This may be in part due to their natural strength; they tend to have powerful trunks and thick lush foliage. Rugged bark doesn’t hurt either. King or not, the best of the black pines are undeniably among the most powerful bonsai in the world. All the photos shown here are from the 89th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition that took place February 2015 in Tokyo. We found them at Michael … Continue reading The King of Bonsai

Crème de la Bonsai

2012 Kokufu Prize winning Informal upright Shimpaku juniper (Juniperus chinensis var. shimpaku). This and the other images in this post are from Phoenix Bonsai. Just back and trying to dig out (no good vacation goes unpunished), so once again we’ll dip back into our archives. This one is from 2013. It’s titled Kokufu: More of the Very Best Bonsai. Just in case you haven’t heard of Kokufu, it is generally regarded as the Crème de la Crème when it comes to Bonsai Exhibitons. As long as we’re stealing images from Phoenix Bonsai Society we might as well pillage their text: … Continue reading Crème de la Bonsai

Fear of Water & Kokufu Too

After Michael Hagedorn’s expert touch (the before photo is below). This photo is from Michael’s latest post which is about his trip to Japan to visit his teacher and the famous Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition. I’ve taken the liberty of combining pieces from three of Michael Hagedorn’s Crataegus Bonsai posts: His two latest posts from his recent visit to Japan and an an older post about Turface and Bonsai Soil. One of the many positives about visiting Crataegus Bonsai is that I always learn something. There’s more than just learning for sure, including great trees, Michael’s personable easy-to-read writing style and … Continue reading Fear of Water & Kokufu Too

Three Famous Sargents

Everything about this famous Sargent juniper (Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii) seems to be flowing, with its shari that looks like melting wax and its gracefully descending foliage. The tree resides at Kunio Kobayashi’s Shunka-en Bonsai Museum in Tokyo. It won the Prime Minister Award at the 1998 Taikan-ten. Its height is 26″ (66 cm) and its estimated age is 200 years. The photo is from Fine Bonsai, Art and Nature. Every morning before getting started with my recent bonsai lessons with Michael Hagedorn, we would spend a little time looking through Kokufu albums. The exercise was illuminating and I wanted … Continue reading Three Famous Sargents

Bonsai Bazaar!

Photo by Peter Tea. From Sam & KJ’s Suiseki blog. Apologies to Peter for a little cropping at the bottom. The Green Club market There’s more to Kokufu (Japan’s most famous bonsai show) than just the best bonsai exhibition in the world. There’s also the Green Club market; which has to be the best bonsai market in the world (if you know of a better one, please correct me). These photos offer a small taste. For the full meal, you’ll have to visit Japan. Wanna buy a bonsai with a little potential? Photo from the Ineternet Bonsai Club, by William … Continue reading Bonsai Bazaar!