AusBonsai

Hi all, just got back from my first ever trip to Japan, where I was lucky enough to visit the 84th Kokufu Ten Exhibition. It was held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, at Ueno. There was also a bonsai market at the Ueno Green Club in nearby Nezu.

Photos inside the exhibition are not allowed, but I was able to sneak in a couple. This was one of my favourites. Another favourite. Can you believe it? A ficus at Kokufu!

Some more sneaky pics HERE.....

The view from Atrium into the main exhibition hall. All up there were 276 exhibits. I don't know where to begin explaining how awesome these trees are. They have such a presence when you are up close to them. You can feel their life and energy.

Just as awesome was the market place at Ueno Green Club. The bonsai and pots for sale were amazing. Interested in owning a 'masterpiece bonsa'? It could be yours for 1,240,000 Yen! There was a huge selection of Shimpaku to chosse from, each with enormous price tags. Some trees for sale would be just as at home inside the exhibition. I was happy to get a few bonsai pots - will post up some photos of them soon.

Hi Jamo,

I can't wait to go to Japan for a Kokufu exhibition, some very beautiful trees. Thank for the sharing the sneaky pics

Elias

wonderful quality there jamo and why was it so hard to beleive a ficus was there ?

i bet you stayed the whole day, i would of, the trees look amazing i could just stand there and study them for hours


jamie

Hi Jamo,
That would be a dream come true. Make you want to come home and compost all your trees ? The fagus crenata are amazing I wonder how long it takes for the bark to go that white ?
Craig

Jamo,

I am so jealous. Amazing trees. What an experience and thank you for sharing.

Heshian

Jamie wrote:wonderful quality there jamo and why was it so hard to beleive a ficus was there ?

i bet you stayed the whole day, i would of, the trees look amazing i could just stand there and study them for hours

Hi Jamie,

Would have stayed there all day if I could, but I my wife was with me as well our 4 month old daughter, so about 4 hours was all that I could manage. But I was able to get back to market place a couple of days later for another hour or so, which in the end gave me enough of a bonsai fix.

I found out after I saw the fig that it's not the first - there was another retusa that made it into the 83rd exhibition (its in the book I bought). I was only amazed for the fact that someone must keep them in Okinawa and bring them up to Tokyo to exhibit. The winters would be much too cold on the main islands, unless you had a cracking good hot house for them. Did I mention that it was snowing in Tokyo 2 days before we arrived?

Jamo

craigw60 wrote:Hi Jamo,
That would be a dream come true. Make you want to come home and compost all your trees ? The fagus crenata are amazing I wonder how long it takes for the bark to go that white ?
Craig

It sure was Craig. I fell in love with the Beech as soon as I saw it. I'd never seen one before in real life. Unfortunately, I've got advice in the past that fagus crenata would not survive the Sydney climate, otherwise I'd be doing all I could to get one.

Hi Jamo,
I am lucky and have a few fagus crenata here but they don't look like that and won't in my lifetime maybe some one in the future can enjoy them. I can see why the Japanese like them as they shoot back freely unlike european beech.
Craig

Very nice - maybe one day I will get there! PS I would definately cough up $15k for one of those!

Thanks very much for posting thise photos Jamo - Lucky they did'nt catchya!!! That beech is definitely a show stopper. One thing I noticed though is that in all the photos that you posted, all the trees shown used moss instead of pebbles and I am sure that the majority of the other trees would have as well. I applaud the Japanese for this approach. Persosnally I never understood the point of pebbles. I think they are extremely impractical and no way near as aesthetically pleasing.!!!

Jamo,
Thanks for the photos, and the info. The green club is something else!
Craig - I don't want to hijack Jamo's post, but I was interested in your comments about the european beech not budding back well. I dug a very large beech a couple of years ago, and I think its european and it does appear to bud after cutting so maybe I have the species wrong.

Jamo i cant say anything that hasnt already been said. Thanks so much for sharing and i am so glad you were able to experience it!!!