Sakui

Yamanoue Sōji (1544-90) a tea master and an important chronicler of tea history of his time, once made a remark about a fellow tea practitioner Tsuji Gensai: “Tsuji is not sharp-eyed, and very poor at chanoyu. Even if he becomes the pupil of a great master, a man without sakui remains inept.” Sakui can be translated as ‘creative mind’. I could really identify with this sentiment in my last bonsai class when I asked the teacher: “How can I improve the nebari of this tree?” and before the teacher could say anything his assistant asked: “What’s wrong with this nebari?” I was glad that the teacher just ignored his question and proceeded to tell me what can be done.

1956: First known mention of dwarf plants in Russian horticultural literature

Thanks to the links in the web site of Phoenix Bonsai Society I stumbled across an interesting passage from a Russian book. Apparently, it is the first known mention of bonsai/penjing in Russian literature. Here is the passage translated to English:
“Dwarf plants are miniature copies of pines, cryptomerias and other trees and shrubs. Dwarf plants are used for creating beautiful miniature landscapes on flower tables. Occasionally, pines, spruces, junipers, rhododendrons and other trees and shrubs grow for decades on mountain cliffs in rock crevices in nutrient-poor soil. Their growth is often measured in centimetres. At present, such plants have become difficult to obtain. Despite the dangers of dwarf plant ‘hunting’ (they grow on vertical cliffs, ravines, rock outcrops, e. g.) they have become rare in nature. For this reason dwarf plants are now grown artificially. There are various methods for achieving small size in plants. The smallest seeds of a cultivated variety are chosen. The seeds are sown in thimble-sized containers with low nutrient compacted soil. The plant is watered just enough to be kept alive. This way, plants are kept weak and develop very slowly. However, the plant growth is reduced even further. The plants are mutilated. The tap root is severed and main trunk is replaced with a side branch. Side branches are regularly pruned, bent, curled and coiled. As a result of practicing these techniques for prolonged periods of time, the plants become ugly and small. Dwarf plant care is aimed at stunting their normal growth, while keeping them alive. Do not keep dwarf plants in warm indoors for too long. Cool environment similar to the conditions in the wild is more suitable for them. Fertilisers are never used. Watering is very limited and carried out just to keep the plants alive. Plants which can be cultivated in dwarf form include pines, spruces, cryptomerias, junipers, rhododendrons, quinces, birches, ornamental apple varieties, maples, bamboos and others.”
Unfortunately the reference is incomplete and goes like this: Kiselev G. E. 1956. Dwarf Plants. In: ??? (Eds) Indoor Gardening. State Publishing of Agricultural Literature, Moscow. p. 278. The author was obviously not a bonsai practitioner and chose not to use the term ‘bonsai’ or ‘penjing’. The passage fails to mention China or Japan as countries where growing of dwarf plants was originally practiced. The passage also contradicts itself: “ugly” plants are used to create “beautiful” landscapes.

Demonstration by Salvatore Liporace

Last weekend I went for a demonstration by Salvatore Liporace from Italy. I anticipated a demonstration with dramatic transformation of a tree involving unusual styling and dead wood carving. Well, there was none of that. Below is the before and after photos of the tree he styled.

It will take a few years for this tree to become something nice, provided the jin is carved adequately. The demonstration went on a tangent wiring lesson. He said that he takes great care to make wired trees to look good, because he may sell or exhibit them with the wire on. So, he uses copper wire for conifers and doesn't use wire gauges thicker than 4.5 mm. He wires two branches with one strand of wire as much as possible not to have too many wire ends and has all wire ends at the back of the tree. It also allows to use less wire. It is not uncommon to put a kilogram of wire on a 70-cm-tall tree and the cost of wire in Italy is higher than in Australia ($70). He bends the branch first than wires it, so that the wire holds it nice and tight. Unlike all bonsai books say, he wires at an angle a little wider than 45°. A branch he wired as example is shown below.

He also explained a new method for achieving ramification in five-needle pines and demonstrated interesting grafting tecniques for junipers. To make it worse for the people who expected just bonsai entertainment, Liporace said some “harsh words” about the standard of bonsai in Australia and excuses we make about the lack of suitable and aged plant material. He said that we are satisfied with little and I absolutely agree with that. How many times I came from a bonsai exhibition disappointed! He noted that, when bonsai first took off in Italy, they were importing a lot of trees from Japan and China and it took them a while to realise that the local material is as good. Apennine Mountains with their rocky volcanic soils have a lot of excellent bonsai material and now Italian trees are valued higher than the imported ones. He also mentioned that the average size of bonsai trees in Italy is decreasing. If a few decades ago thickness of the trunk to tree height ratio was 1:6, now it is 1:4.

Since selling bonsai is Liporace’s bread and butter, he can’t afford to waste time on redesigning trees. The tree design is decided on right from the time of collection with the aim to get the tree to exhibition standard within 5 years. Things he said made me realise that Europe is becoming like Japan when it comes to bonsai. There is a growing number of people who practice or at least appreciate bonsai. Lots of local and imported plant material. It is common for someone to pay three or four figure price for a bonsai. There are wealthy people who just own bonsai trees and have bonsai practitioners work on them. Liporace said that it costs €200-300 to style a larger tree and it is not unheard of to spend around €1000 to get a tree ready for an exhibition. Customers show him their tree and he gives them a quotation. Large number of bonsai organizations, exhibitions, nurseries and auctions provides bonsai practitioners with lots of things to do. Nothing of the sort exists in Australia, with its small market for bonsai and relatively small number of bonsai enthusiasts.

Forest planting by Saburo Kato?

Bonsai master Saburo Kato was well known for his forest plantings. When I visited Mansei-en nursery in Omiya, which was owned by him, I saw several forest plantings, but was really impressed by the one on the picture. Could it be a bonsai done by Saburo Kato?

P.S. For more info on this forest planting see: http://lomov.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/saihate-no-oka-by-saburo-kato.html).

For more info on Mansei-en see: http://lomov.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/mansei-en-saburo-kato-and-forest.html.

Kencho-ji junipers, Kamakura

When I visited Kencho-ji temple in Kamakura, I was really impressed by magnificent juniper trees growing along the temple’s main alley. They looked like some sort of Chinese Juniper and one of them had a trunk about four meters in diameter (photo on the left). I took some photos, wandered about how old they are and forgot about them. Two months later I was reading about Kencho-ji and found that these junipers were actually planted by the founder of the temple Chinese Zen master Lan-hsi Tao-lung between 1253 and 1278 from seeds brought from China.

Bilpin Plant Collector’s Fair 2010

Today I went to the Plant Collector’s Fair in Bilpin. Even though the fair mostly caters to people who want unusual flowers in their garden, I couldn’t resist buying a bunch of them (see the picture). I really enjoyed it and it was definitely worth the trip. As far as bonsai is concerned, the fare may have some rare kinds of plants which could be used as bonsai starter stock. For instance, I picked up a small Bird Cherry. Something I wanted, but never thought would find in Australia. Anyway, if you want to get the best and the least common plants at this fair - get there in the morning of the first day.

Not too much wire?

Ever since I started doing bonsai I was hesitant to wire plants too much. I just had a self-made supposition that wire suffocates the plant. My trip to Japan helped me to overcome this prejudice after seeing wired plants like the one on the picture. I realised that a lot of beautiful bonsai I’ve seen in Japan, had to be subjected to extensive wiring to become what they are today.

Paper published!

Today my paper on plant reproductive success in restored habitats is accepted for publication! My very first blog entry made five years ago mentions me doing the lab work for this paper. Also, an entry made in October 2008 features a drawing that’s going to be in it (I like that drawing!).

Tengo-an tea house

While visiting Tokyo National Museum I took a picture of a view through a window. A few weeks later, I was reading a museum brochure and realised that I actually took a picture of a tea house built more than 300 years ago by Kobori Enshu, one of the most prominent tea masters of Edo period. Although Tengo-an is not his most famous tea house it is exquisite and imbued with sabi quality. It was moved to the museum's garden from Kyoto.

Kamishibai, Tokyo

One evening the hotel where I stayed in Tokyo organised a Kamishibai performance. It was performed by two university students. I was really impressed with the show and could draw parallels between Kamishibai and other traditional performing arts. Instead of Kabuki’s actors and Bunraku’s puppets Kamishibai has a series of pictures displayed on a small stage. The sound effects are reduced to percussion of wooden clappers. However, the role of narrator/actor is as important as in Kabuki and Bunraku. They reduced everything to basics, but did not compromise on good storytelling!

P. S. For stories on other Japanese performing arts see the following blog posts: Bunraku (http://lomov.blogspot.com.au/2010/02/bunraku.html), Kabuki (http://lomov.blogspot.com.au/2010/02/kabuki-za.html), Noh and Kyogen (http://lomov.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/noh-and-kyogen-at-kongo-nohgakudo.html).

Bonsai talk in Tokyo

During my trip to Japan I met an Italian bonsai enthusiast who was also interested in Japanese garden design. This time he visited some Japanese gardens off the beaten track, went to Nagoya to see Tokonoma bonsai pots and then visited Kokufu-ten. He said that Tokyo region is definitely the leading center of bonsai art in Japan. Masahiko Kimura is considered as No. 1 bonsai master, with Kunio Kobayashi close behind. However, he pointed out that a shohin master Tomohiro Masumi of Koju-en nursery, Kyoto stands out as one of the leaders in the area of small bonsai. He shared his experience of visiting the studio of one of the most revered Tokonoma bonsai pot makers. His name is Gyozan Nakano. The Italian gentleman actually witnessed the master potter working on one of the larger pots. He said that he makes them by coil building and than burnishes them with a wet brush. I am sure there is a lot more to it, but he was certain that he doesn’t use any press molds. He told me that Gyozan Nakano makes pots only to order. If someone orders a bonsai pot he makes three pots and sells the customer the best one among them. I also asked him about Salvatore Liporace who is coming to Sydney to demonstrate at the National Bonsai Convention this year. In his opinion Liporace is one of the best in Italy, however he also mentioned Othmar Auer a German speaking bonsai artist from Northern Italy. He also introduced me to the Secretary of the Unione Bonsaisti Italiani and some guy form the San Marino Bonsai Club (all three were staying in the same hotel as me). Below is the picture of shohin displays at Kokufu-ten.

Tokyo National Museum

Yesterday I visited Tokyo National Museum, which was a strong finish for my trip to Japan. Once again I marvelled at the beauty and diversity of the collection. Below are some of the highlights in pictures.

Ceramics

Lacquer

Calligraphy

Netsuke

Swords

Samurai armour and metal work

There were also wood-block prints by Hokusai, Hiroshige and Utamaro; exquisite old kimono, bunraku masks and lots more.

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