Bonsai on a dish

On the last day of my stay in Sawanoya Ryokan I noticed that the tokonoma in the dining area was displaying an Imari wear dish with a bonsai motif on it!

P. S. Later I learned that it is more likely to be a flower arrangement and quite a typical one.

 

Bunraku theater performance, Tokyo

Today I went to Kokufitsu Gekijo (National Theater of Japan, image above) to see a Bunraku performance. The name of the play was Daikyoji Mukashi Goyomi by Chikamatsu Mozaemon. I think, it is the bunraku play which features in Takeshi Kitano's film 'Dolls'. It is a very sad love story and some of people in the audience had tears in their eyes. The skill of the puppeteers was amazing, but the narrators were absolutely outstanding. Below are photographs of two scenes from the performance.

Bonsai master Kunio Kobayashi, Shunka-en, Tokyo

Today I visited Shunka-en Bonsai Museum run by bonsai master Kunio Kobayashi. It was probably the most overwhelming and rewarding bonsai experience I had in Japan. I was met at the entrance by Valentin Brose, one of Mr. Kobayashi’s apprentices who gave me a very detailed tour of the entire museum in English. Valentin told me that Kunio Kobayashi and Masahiko Kimura are considered by many the top bonsai masters in Japan. The museum is absolutely superb. Elegant soan style building, magnificent bonsai, awe inspiring bonsai pots and very hospitable people. Valentin introduced me to Mr. Kobayashi and Peter Warren who studied under Mr. Kobayashi for 7 years. Mr. Kobayashi was positive about my idea of a pictorial English-Japanese Bonsai Dictionary and said that Peter would be the best person to partner up for this project. Valentin served me some tea while Mr. Kobayashi signed his book for me. Then Mr. Kobayashi played a DVD of a TV program featuring him, which was aired last week. After that, he invited me to join him, his other guests and apprentices for lunch. Among them was Masahiko Kimura’s apprentice Ryan Neil and an American yamadori collector whose name escapes me now. The conversation over lunch started with explaining the tokonoma display in the room and ended with discussing bonsai politics in Japan. Mr. Kobayashi told that bonsai art in Japan reached its peak 30 years ago when Saburo Kato was the Director of Nippon Bonsai Association. He maintained such high standard for Kokufu-ten exhibits, that in some years the winning prices were not awarded. At present, the prices for top of the range bonsai trees and antique bonsai pots are almost half of what it was 25 years ago. This caused considerable losses to the high end bonsai sellers. The standard of the bonsai exhibits at Kokufu Bonsai-ten has gone down noticeably over these years as well. In Mr. Kobayashi’s opinion, the forefront of bonsai art has shifted from Japan to Europe, particularly Italy.

The museum building includes a tea house with two tea rooms

Some of the magnificent trees in the front garden

The Museum features seven exquisite tokonoma displays

A dazzling variety of glazed bonsai pots

Some of the pots with impressive patina were imported from China in 16th century and are over 400 years old

Some of the bonsai stands made by famous craftsmen

Ginza Morimae, Tokyo

Ginza Morimae is a phenomena yet to happen in Australia. It is a slick and stylish bonsai shop located in upmarket shopping district of Ginza, Tokyo. Some of its nearby neighbors are Prada, Swatch, Ferragamo and Abercrombie & Fitch. The shop features a stylish display of mostly smaller bonsai, however it also had a couple of impressive larger bonsai. No bonsai enthusiast goes shopping there. It targets people not privy to bonsai art who are in a spending mode and up to an impulse buy.

Kabuki-za, Tokyo

Today I went to see a hitomakumi (single show) at Kabuki-za, the largest Kabuki theater in Japan (image above). The hitomakumi consisted of two short plays. The first one is a dance drama called Tsumeo (top image below) and the second is a drama called Shunkan (bottom image below). Splendid costumes, outstanding performances by actors, narrators, musicians and singers. You don’t have to know Kabuki well to enjoy it. It reminded me of classical Indian dance, ballet, theatric drama and opera at the same time.

Asakusa Kannon Temple, Tokyo

Yesterday, I spent the morning in Happo-en which is a beautiful Japanese garden (picture 1) with two fine tea houses and all other stuff you expect from a Japanese garden. Straw huts, stone lanterns, rock garden, wooden bridges, pond with koi-carp, bonsai, etc. In the afternoon I went to Sensoji (aka Asakusa Kannon Temple) the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo (built in 645 AD). The place is very crowded, but you can always find a quite spot (picture 2).

Bonsai old timers

The Ezo Spruce shown on picture1 was originally lifted as yamadori in the Kuril Islands, Russia, brought to Honshu, and trained as bonsai. This specimen is over 500 years old! The same goes for the Sargent’s Juniper (picture 2). It is over 500 years too! It was collected in Hokaido when this species still could be found in the wild. Wild Sargent’s Junipers are almost extinct in Japan. I saw these bonsai in a public garden.

My first Japanese Tea Ceremony

Yesterday. I saw a Japanese Tea Ceremony. It took place in a historic teahouse called Muan (picture 2). It was built in Edo period (about 130 years ago) by a wealthy silk merchant, and later moved to its present location in Happo-en garden. Muan is fashioned in a soan style (grass hut) with ceilings made of Japanese Cedar. I was the only guest and it was an informal Urasenke school tea ceremony. The tea master was skilful and her movements were more complex than what I’ve seen on videos (picture 1). The tea was usu-cha (thin tea) and it was good. They also gave me some sweets made of compressed icing sugar. The first cup was served in a Kiyomizu-yaki bowl (picture 3) and then it was followed by the second cup served in a Karatsu-yaki bowl (picture 4). When the tea master saw that I am interested in ceramics, she brought an Akaraku-yaki bowl to show me (picture 5).

Bonsai in everyday life

In Australia, bonsai is just one of those rare hobbies and people live their lives without ever seeing one. In Japan, bonsai is a part of the cultural heritage and you see it in everyday life. Here are some examples.

1. Bonsai in a temple.

2. Bonsai in a window of a noodle shop.

3. Bonsai in a public garden.

4. Bonsai in front of a house.

A trip to Kamakura

Yesterday I went to Kamakura and visited a some temples and a couple of museums. It was a very cold and windy day, but here are some of the highlights.

1. Engaku-ji – a Zen temple built during Mongolian invasions about 700 years ago.

2. Kencho-ji – the oldest Zen monastery in Japan, founded in 1253 by a Chinese Zen monk. It is ranked as number one Zen temple in Japan.

3. Tsurugaoka Hachimanu – the main Shinto shrine if Kamakura originally built in 1063. The shrine has a small museum with some historical treasures.

4. Kotoku-in – the Great Buddha statue (Daibutsu) built in 1252. Originally housed in a building which was blown away by wind twice.

My whole Kamakura program was delayed because I was asked by some elderly Japanese to have lunch with them in the temple. The rooms inside the traditional wooden building were absolutely gorgeous with exquisite paintings and calligraphy on sliding wall panels. In front of the building was a tea garden and lunch was served in a room used for tea ceremonies. The priest showed me a Hagi-yaki chawan they use for the ceremony and gave me a cha-bana book (flower arrangement for tea ceremony). The food was delicious made by the best bento maker in Yokohama. I was really humbled the kindness of these people. Here is the picture of a flower arrangement in one of the rooms.

Bonsai Village, Omiya

Today I visited Bonsai-cho in Omiya-koen. It is a small town near Tokyo famous for its bonsai nurseries. I visited only five of them. Fuyo-en is an old school nursery with a lot of well-tended larger size trees. Kyuka-en is a bit ran down, but still has some nice trees. Seiko-en is very slick and stylish. They have some really impressive trees and they actually charge an entrance fee. Mansei-en has more space and specializes on larger trees or groups of trees. Some of them are very good. Bonsai master Saburo Kato was the 3rd generation owner of this nursery. Toju-en has some nice trees mostly largish pines. Bonsai master Masahiko Kimura studied at this nursery under Motosuke Hamano from 1955 to 1966. None of the nurseries allow taking photos, so my photo album from Omiya is very slim and unfortunately it’s all in the head.

P. S. For a more comprehensive coverage of bonsai nurseries in Omiya see the following posts:

Tuju-en - http://lomov.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/toju-en-omiya.html

Mansei-en - http://lomov.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/mansei-en-saburo-kato-and-forest.html

Seiko-en - http://lomov.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/seiko-en-omiya.html

Fuyo-en - http://lomov.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/fuyo-en-omiya.html

Kyuka-en - http://lomov.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/kyuka-en-omiya.html

Shoto-en - http://lomov.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/shoutou-en-omiya.html

Ueno Green Club, Tokyo

I also went to Ueno Green Club where they hold an annual bonsai market in conjunction with Kokufu Bonsai-ten. Here are some of the highlights in pictures.

1 – A stall specializing in larger trees.

2 – A stall specializing in medium and small trees.

3 – Advanced bonsai stock from plantation (Japanese Maples).

4 – Advanced bonsai stock from plantation (Japanese Black Pines).

5 – Mame bonsai pots by Heian Kouzan ranging in price between $5,500 and $7,000.

They also had suiseki, books, and lots of different tools including some fancy power tools for carving. Antique bonsai pots were impressive, some are large, more than 100 years old with nice patina, but their prices were shocking.

Opening day of the 84th Kokufu Bonsai-ten

Today was the opening day of the 84th Kokufu Bonsai-ten – the biggest and the most prestigious annual bonsai exhibition in Japan. There were 269 exhibits. To me such large number of absolutely magnificent trees was too overwhelming. I felt that each tree should have been admired alone without other masterpieces overshadowing it. The standard of the trees was so high that I haven’t seen anything like that in any of the Australian Bonsai exhibitions. Unfortunately, taking photos in the exhibition was prohibited and I managed to take only a few snaps, when security personnel weren’t looking. I was lucky enough to have a little Kokufu-ten adventure and it began when I heard someone speaking in Russian. Turns out it was the lingua franca used by a Lithuanian and a Czech. The Litvanian was Kestutis Ptakauskas of Morning Dew Garden, Lithuania and the Czech was Vaslav Novak of Bonsai Centrum, Czech Republic. They introduced me to their friend Mr. Sun You Won, the Chairman of Korea Small Bonsai Association. I told them about my Pictorial English-Japanese Dictionary idea and Mr. Sun You Won kindly introduced me to Mr. Hiroshi Takeyama, the Chairman of Nippon Bonsai Association and Mr. Susumu Nakamura, the Director of Nippon Bonsai Association (the big boss). Mr. Nakamura spoke English and told me that his son might be able to help me to find a partner for this project. His son Mr. Makoto Nakamura was somewhat critical about the project idea, but when I explained that it would be a very visual book with lots of drawings he asked me to send more details by e-mail. Now the ball is in my court!

Dust Storm

The top image shows my garden this morning during the dust storm and the bottom image shows it this evening after the storm. The new shade cloth frame I erected a few months ago is prominent in these photos.




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Yesterday's kiln firing

The pot that I fired yesterday has several cracks and a part of its bottom fell off, but it still holds water and quite functional! I think the initial heating of the kiln was too rapid.

First firing of my kiln

In the last couple of months I have been building a small kiln to fire bonsai pots and tea bowls at home. Last weekend the kiln was completed and tonight I fired it for the first time. The temperature in the kiln went up to 1180 degrees Centigrade in one and a half hours, which was higher than I expected. I could have achieved even a higher temperature, but I had no pyrometric cones for higher temperatures. I'll open the kiln tomorrow morning. I hope the pot is not cracked.

"Become a bamboo"

A Chinese artist once described to his disciples the secret of painting: “Draw a bamboo for ten years, become a bamboo, then forget all about bamboos when you are drawing. Once in a possession of an infallible technique, you place yourself at the mercy of inspiration.”

Bonsai, just like any art has two parts to it: the technique and the creative process. The thing about bonsai is that its technique is way more complex than in most other artistic media. It takes years to acquire the horticultural knowledge and experience necessary for it. Nevertheless, there are enough of bonsai enthusiasts who have the technique. There are also enough artists who are capable of creating exquisite bonsai, but they choose to work in other artistic media. Bonsai masters who possess both the technique and the artistic talent are quite rare.

"Willows are green and flowers are red"

A well known Zen saying tells us: “Willows are green and flowers are red.” It takes each aspect of reality for what it is, and nothing more. I think this is how one should evaluate bonsai. If it is good it will be obvious. If it is not obvious, it is not that good. However, all this doesn’t apply to people who can’t resist liking ugly things.

I recently made a couple of bonsai pots that would convey the feeling of wabi (rustic beauty) and I hope I succeeded to some extent.

Ray Nesci's technique

I forgot to mention that at Peter Adams' workshop last week, Ray Nesci showed everyone an amazing technique. He forms a tree trunk out of moss and plants many small plants into it as branches. Plant roots eventually reach the soil at the base of the trunk, while the moss rots away leaving a thick and gnarly trunk formed by the roots. It's awesome!

Bonsai by the Harbour 2009

Last month I attended this year’s ‘Bonsai by the Harbour’ workshop organized by the Bonsai Federation of Australia. The venue was splendid and most presenters demonstrated advanced techniques. My favorite was Rick Roberts who was styling an evergreen variety of trident maple. It was a tree previously grown in the field with a 15 cm-thick trunk base and 2 cm-thick lower branches. He demonstrated methods for bending thick primary branches (Picture 1) and grafting new roots to an existing nebari (Picture 2 & 3).

Peter Adams' workshop, Sydney 2009

Today, I attended Peter Adams's workshop. He is an unusual bonsai artist and an entertaining speaker. He hasn't performed any 'miracles' with the trees during his demonstrations, but his visions of final tree designs embodied in most excellent sketches were very impressive indeed. The picture here shows a Chinese Juniper he styled, and the sketch of what he wants it to be in the future.

Irregularity, poignancy and brevity

I was reading Bernard Leach’s “A Potter in Japan” and found a beautiful passage pertaining to Japanese ceramics for the Tea Ceremony: “They [utensils for the Tea Ceremony] … are made in a land of earthquakes where nothing can be built for permanence and the Tea Rooms are like charming human birds’ nests in rock gardens where nature, irregularity, poignancy and brevity hold sway.” It is said so well that I just couldn't resist quoting it here.

The Exhibition of Bonsai Study Group

I visited the annual exhibition of Bonsai Study Group today. It is the only Bonsai Club that does their show in autumn. The atmosphere of the exhibition was very nice, a few pleasing trees on display (one of such bonsai is shown in the picture). The demonstration on penjing planting is was interesting too. However, my yearning to see at least one outstanding bonsai wasn’t satisfied. Better luck next time!