On February 6th 2006 at 4:30 AM my wife and 1 left our home and departed to the Orlando International Airport. Our tickets in hand we boarded the plane to Los Angeles for a connecting flight to Tokyo, Japan. We were on our way to the 80th annual Kokufu Ten.
I suppose I should provide some background at this point and let you know why at this stage of my life I decided to take this trip. In relative terms I haven’t been involved with bonsai terribly long (about 8 years) but I don’t really recall life without my trees.
I have had the privilege of seeing many very talented artists as they travel through Central Florida, and I have been fortunate enough to take a few workshops along the way. In Florida we have so many great artists that live right here in our great state, and I consider many of them friends. As many of us have come to find out, bonsai is more than trees, it is relationships and friendships with others who appreciate this wonderful art form as well.
Probably the best advice I received was from Mike Rogers, who told me, “If you want to do good bonsai you need to see good bonsai.” Sounds simple enough, but he was right. Until your eye can recognize the subtle differences of what makes a tree better than the next, you won’t be able to bring out the greatest potential in a tree. So what better place to see good (great) Bonsai than in Tokyo, Japan?
So why now? Why not! I believe anyone in bonsai can advance no matter who they are, but the speed that they can improve their abilities depends on the time and effort put into learning this art form. It is better to learn early on so that you have a life-time to build upon it, rather than to work all your life and then look back on what could have been done better. That is why I took this trip now.
In a word, Japan was, “Amazing”! The people were accommodating, and the food was great. Also one more thing were the trees… Oh, those trees were awesome. Since this was my first time to apan I decided to go as part of a tour group. Bill Valvanis’ (International Bonsai Magazine) group to be specific. I’m glad I did, because of his many trips there he was able to make sure our trip was jam packed with as many trees as possible.
First stop, Kimura’s.
When 1 first arrived it took me a few minutes to compose myself. For some reason my jaw had hit the ground and I had a horrible drooling spell. However I was able to get myself under control and strolled through his collection of masterpiece bonsai. My camera nearly caught fire from the speed that I was clicking the shutter. However there is no camera that can replace standing right in front of one of those beauties.
I don’t want to bore you all with the details of all the gardens that we went to,
but I can’t help myself. After Kimura’s we traveled on to the bonsai village where we saw collection after collection of awesome trees. The last stop of the day was Mr. Saburo Kato’s garden. If you do not know of this man, you need to. I believe the highlight of his collection was an unbelievable juniper estimated to be between 1500 – 2000 years old! All of a sudden I had a flashback to Mike saying, “… see good bonsai.”
The next morning bright and early the tour group traveled to the opening of Kokufu-ten (Part 1). We arrived so early that the gates were not opened yet. However we were first in line and anxiously awaited the guards who promptly watched their timepieces to open the gates. As we walked into the entrance, we could see in the faces of those running the show that we had done something great. A group of more than forty Americans were the first to enter the show and represent America at this wonderful Japanese event. It didn’t go unnoticed, and it was a very proud moment for those involved.
I think I could have looked at these trees all day, but I have found that my brain can only absorb so many bonsai at one time. I looked at the structure and design of over 250 trees and tried my best to take them all in, but I knew I couldn’t. However I enjoyed every moment of it.
Since this was the 80th Kokufu-ten they plan two shows. So after the first 4 days of the show all of the trees were removed and another 250 trees were brought in. It was amazing to see that they had enough trees to show at such a high level of quality. It was truly an amazing event.
I don’t know if I was able to bring to life the excitement and splendor that I experienced on the trip through this article. However I hope I sparked something in each of you to take the time to really look at bonsai, especially great bonsai. No matter if it is at your club, or at a BSF convention or the fine trees at Epcot submitted by bonsai artists from all over the state of Florida. It is a great way to increase your talents, and a great way to build lasting memories for a lifetime
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