The 85th Meifu-ten exhibit was on earlier this month and I’ve just got round to sorting through the Photo’s. It is a local show but, is one of the biggest in Japan and it is on at the same time as Gafu-ten so often people will visit both in the weekend. I didn’t take pictures of all the tree’s but, the one’s I thought were worth taking a picture of.

Some notes on wiring I prepared for a recent presentation.

Left to right: too small, too heavy, just right:

With aluminum wire (use on deciduous trees and azaleas), use a wire that is 1/3-1/2 the diameter of the target branch.

Left to right: too tightly-coiled, too-loosely coiled, just right:

When wiring a branch, 60-degree angle is the generally accepted, correct wiring spacing. Too tight, and the holding power is reduced, wire is wasted, and scarring is increased. Too loose, and the holding power is reduced, and branches tend to break with the diminished support provided by the wire. Just right, and the bend should hold. Added considerations to proper wiring include planing the wiring route so wire will be on the outside of bends, opposite side of buds, and always routed to pass consistently under or above secondary branches…more on that shortly.

Two techniques, and how to use them together:

The Ueno Green Club is the headquarters for the Nippon Bonsai Cooperative a long time professional bonsai organization organized in 1931. The organization is a business corporation and members must be approved and pay a hefty entry fee, plus annual dues. Twenty one years ago there were over 500 members. Today the membership is approximately 250.

Nippon BonaI Association Building

Nippon Satsuki Association Office

Twenty one years ago the Nippon Bonsai Cooperative built a three story building in the center area and removed the long buildings. Then a more modern building was constructed on the left side. The building is owned by the Nippon Bonsai Cooperative, but the land is leased. There is a close relationship with the Nippon Bonsai Association, a non-profit organization established in the early 1960s which was first established as the Kokufu Bonsai Society in 1934. Their headquarter building is located diagonally across the street from the Ueno Green Club. About a…

Each of our exciting bonsai tours to Japan includes a private tour to S-Cube, Masahiko Kimura’s studio, Omiya Bonsai Art Museum and the bonsai gardens in Omiya Bonsai Village. There are always new bonsai and other interesting things to see and study.

Mnsei-en Bonsai Garden

Hatsuji & Takahiro Kato

Omiya Bonsai Village

  

Shunka-en Bonsai Museum in Tokyo is the home of Kunio Kobayashi who is one of the top bonsai artists in Japan and the world. His garden is a mecca for many, including me because of the high quality bonsai and especially his distinctive formal bonsai displays.

Winter flowering cherry, Prunus campanulata

Japanese five-needle pine, Pinus parviflora

Chinese quince, Pseudocydonia sinensis

Apprentice Jin explaining the magnificent display of a Japanese black pine

Japanese flowering apricot, Prunus mume

Japanese black pine, Pinus thunbergii

This tree has developed quite a bit in the last few years. The exposed roots have grown in size, and the development of the branches made our re-tweaking a bit more complete.

Konnor is a client who tosses a few trees in a car and drives across several state lines to spend a few days in my studio. I always look forward to his visits.

Enjoy our re-tweaking…!

This was the original front in 2006…

…and here’s the other side, also in 2006, beginning to toy with it as a new front.

This is in January 2015, before we did anything.

After branch-shortening pruning and needle thinning.

Konnor sporting a ‘Telperion Farms’ sweatshirt…

This pine was grown in a tub of pumice surrounding the akadama/pumice rootball for a couple of years, to give the tree a bit of ‘umph’.

With the branches nearly set…only a few at the apex left…