Adventures in Japan...Pt 4 Omiya Nursery. Manse-en

[bodhidharma]

G'day all, sorry i have taken so long to finish this but with life taking us in funny directions and...SO MUCH POTTING TO DO... oh, did i shout that out, sorry. Here is the continuation of my fantastic time in Japan. I will have to be a little long winded on this one as it was my favourite part of the trip. Please spend time reading and dont go straight to the piccy's I ended up in the oldest nursery in Japan, It was stinking hot and we had been walking for a while when we entered the nursery. As we made our way in (with my eye's glued on all the magnificent specimens) my wife said she thought the nursery was unattended. I looked around and came to the same conclusion. Being an Aussie i let out an..hey, is there anyone here, very loudly, to which two voices responded. One Japanese and one American American..how come? This is when i met Juan. Juan is an American fellow doing two years Apprenticeship at the oldest establishment in Japan..FOR NOTHING..and, in his words, he is privileged to be doing so. His Boss, or Master, is at least half his age and has been doing Bonsai all his life. Juan refers to him as his Master and stands back when the Master speaks to clients. The air of respect is apparent. Hmm..how would we accept that in Australia. Anyway, Juan was a fountain of information and he and i got on famously. I have invited him to Bodhidharma as he would love to visit here. The Young Japanese Master handed me over to Juan and we walked and talked about Bonsai.He showed me last years Kokofu winner, which i was standing next to and did not recognise and he said that now it had won Kokofu it was worth less than when it had the potential to win it. The prestige is in the winning apparently and once that has taken place it is on to next years. He showed me their next big hope, a Siejju Elm (which i definitely could not photograph) The ramification was beyond belief and i will be keeping my eye out for it in the future. I was interested in pricing and value and he said Bonsai's change hands for 250,000 American regularly. He also took me over to what is believed to be, the worlds oldest known Bonsai, (reputedly 2000 years old) and said the owner of the nursery had refused an offer of 1,000,000 American for it. I could photograph it as he said it would probably never leave the premises. He has been at the Nursery for one year and said he learnt more in one year than he did for the fifteen years he has been doing Bonsai and all he does is weed and water. Apparently knowledge is handed down verbally and by asking all the proper questions. I had a time in my life which was special and i did get photos to prove it. Please enjoy, and remember, the photos do not reveal the glory of seeing these trees close up and personal. I also mostly took an overview of the nursery as taking singular photos of trees make them melt one into another and i dont think i could have done them justice. Also i did not want to wear out my welcome and abuse their hospitality as i spent hours there and did not, could not, buy a tree.

[Levuccio]

Thats some nice trees. You said that in the last picture there is The worlds oldest known Bonsai...do you know how old is it?

[Leonarda]

OHH ! ! ! ***sigh***
be still my beating heart ! just magic.

[miyagiman]

hi bodhi, that must have been the most amazing experience, the trees, the layout, the oldest tree, the people, the eye just continues to roam, the ideas that come into my mind, the pots (they're awesome too. absolutely fantastic mate, well done. cheers, miyagiman.

[alpineart]

Mate one can only dream of surrounding oneself with trees like them .I think i'll be pushing up daisy before then , ah there's always the after life .Thank for showing these works of art .Cheers Alpine

[Chris H]

That brings back such fantastic memories.

[bodhidharma]

Thats some nice trees. You said that in the last picture there is The worlds oldest known Bonsai...do you know how old is it?

you have to read levuccio 2000 years old. Who am i to say it isnt.

[craigw60]

G'day Bodhi, welcome back. Astounding trees and so beautifully laid out.
Craigw

[nealweb]

Awesome Bhodi, thanks!

[Gerard]

2000 years old. Who am i to say it isnt.

Just trunk chop and count the rings
It is difficult to believe that modern science has not given us an easier method.

Great trees Bodhi, I am very jealous of your experience. Thanks for sharing.

[bodhidharma]

2000 years old. Who am i to say it isnt.

Just trunk chop and count the rings
It is difficult to believe that modern science has not given us an easier method.

Great trees Bodhi, I am very jealous of your experience. Thanks for sharing.

I have to agree Gerard. Carbon dating a small section maybe. i think there is a certain amount of documentation handed down through the generations. What is interesting is that the nursery makes a lot of money babysitting trees. If the tree is generational and the person inheriting the tree does not feel up to the task of keeping it healthy (could you imagine the shame if you were the one who killed it ) the nursery does the job. This tree is the owners though.

[kcpoole]

Awesoem display and thanks for posting. Some magic in that garden

Re carbon dating, this will still not give the correct age as you must data a samlep from the oldest sample of the tree. As it is a living thing, Some bits will only be a year old.

I remeber there was a project in the US to date the oldest living tree which I think was a ponderosa pine at 3500 years or so
they Drilled out a core sample at the base of the trunk and counted the rings on it.
Apparenlty there was an older one that had been cut down. It was ove 4000 years I think

Ken

[NathanM]

Wow, that is amazing Bodhi Thank you so much for sharing!! That has certainly brightened my day.
2000 years old is amazing! I don't believe I visited this place when I was in Omiya 2 years ago. I'll defintiely have to make an effort to find it in May if I return to Omiya!
Thanks againb for sharing mate

[Jarrod]

Thanks Bodhi, Its a stunnning place isn't it. This is, i believe, the nursery of the late Saburo Kato, now run by his ?son?? Hatsuji Kato. Please correct me if i am wrong. Those groups were Saburo Katos self confessed "Greatest acheivement in display" These trees, as i understand it, were all collected from russia.

Very inspiring.

[craigw60]

I think your right Jarrod its the Kato nursery. It has an amazing private collection attached to it.
I did a workshop with Hatsuji in the eighties, I don't think he was very impressed with my material, I wonder why
Craigw