Les 'does' Japan

Following Les's recent freebee trip to Australia, his latest junket was to Japan.
By way of a taster for his talk at our meeting in September a brief description of the trip is found below.

Ladies & Gentlemen,.... I give you Les....

The trip was organised by Yoshihiro Nakamizu of J-bonsai.com who took me to the gardens of Mr Kimura and Mr Kobayashi, as well as the following nurseries-
Mausei-en owned by Mr Saburo Kato
Toju-en, Mr Hamano teacher of Mr Kimura
Fuyo-en, Mr Takeyama, chair of Nippon Bonsai Association
Seiko-en, Mr Yamada
Yorozu-en, Mr Fukano (shohin)

Many of the nurseries (en) have been owned for generations by the same family and passed from father to son. Trees collected over 150 years ago are being tended by great grand children of the collectors.

The quality of the raw material makes our trees look like twigs in pots. Each of the gardens had high quality trees and the owners specialised in various styles, species or variety of trees, in Mr Kimuras garden you are blinded by the white deadwood and stunned by the spectacular twisting and turning trunks.
Mr Kobayashi was displaying wonderful satsuki and a wider range of trees with spectacular nebari also at this nursery is a brilliant museum displaying a number of tokonama and ancient pots and display stands.
In addition to the bonsai tour I also was lucky enough to go to Kyoto to visit temples and shrines which had spectacular gardens, even travelling through Tokyo and the suburbs you see outstanding garden trees that have been styled and refined to a high standard.

Les Storey

Here are a few pictures to wet the appetite.

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Les with.......well, you know who it is!!

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Les and a shohin he discovered!..... the perspectives a little strange, don't you think!

Nice!!

.....makes you want to put a torch to your own collection!

A view of Yorozu-en. The nursery where Les found his three new trees.

Stunning pine

Culture, S & M show, unusual training technique or an attempt to 'feel' what its like to be a tree????
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So, be sure not to miss Septembers meeting as its bound to be enlightening. (I believe Les is already booked in for a mini tour of UK bonsai clubs.)

But before you attend hide all matches and lighter fluids at home, as you might feel different about your own collection afterwards.