Nagahama Bonbai Exhibition - Ume - Prunus mume

[Canada Bonsai]

The Nagahama Bonbai Exhibition takes place every year, in Nagahama, Japan.
It will be celebrating 75 years in 2026.
The collection is exclusively made up of Ume.

It is a great exhibition to visit during the break between the first and second week of Kokufu. Nagahama is only a short train ride away from Tokyo, and there are many other reasons to visit Nagahama (for me, those are Lake Biwa and its ingredients such as carp, biwa trout, moroko (fish), and duck, as well as the region's local dishes such as Funazushi and Yakisaba Somen


These ume range from 40 to 400 years old. Some are strong, while others appear structurally fragile



Some are former orchard trees, while others came from public and private landscapes, and many came from private collections. The ume are of course housed outdoors all year, at 4 different sites, and only brought indoors for the exhibition. Trees are moved daily, despite the fact that some of the heaviest trees weigh as much as 800kg (1700lbs). I had the rare privilege of visiting their outdoors sites.



Some of them have incredible degrees of ramification! It should be noted that this is not always possible nor is it always desired, both in the case of bonbai and bonsai.







The exhibition itself takes places in several zones. There are trees located outdoors, and others indoors spread across several rooms and floors of a magnificent building originally built for the purpose of a proving a resting place (for 1 hour!!) for Emperor Meiji while travelling from Kyoto to Tokyo.



In this area, a different theme is chosen every year. This year, the theme was water



Seirei is a mere 40 years old - something that can be achieved in a single lifetime



On the other hand Shoryubai is 250 years old



...and hanging on by a thread. Moving this trees requires up to 10 people working with extreme caution since the trunk can no longer support the weight of the tree




Furo is 400 years old, and the old tree in the collection. Don't ever let those rumours convince you that 'Ume don't live long'. This tree is over 2m (6.5') tall from the ground.









This one has become so thin, it looks like scarf or ribbon

 

[NaoTK]

epic stuff. I noticed they are all potted very low in the pot.

 

[Canada Bonsai]

The collection has over 300 trees that can be rotated into the exhibition at any time. These pictures represent a fraction of what was on display during my visit







The deadwood on these trees is not whitened or preserved in any way. A wire brush is occasionally used to clean the deadwood when necessary, but in general this exhibition and its curators place a heavy emphasis on allowing their ume to be ume with as little intervention as possible.

It may also surprise you to learn no wire is used in the development of these trees. Only directional pruning is performed, and grafting as necessary.





While travelling Japan and meeting with Ume specialists, I have noticed that this is the current trend among bonsai practitioners as well. Whereas in the past we would have seen Ume in exhibitions with bleach-white deadwood, I was told repeatedly that this is a thing of the past.

Unlike Ume bonbai, wire is typically used in the development of ume bonsai, but the most common use is to set primary and secondary branches. Once this structure is in place, very little wire is needed.

 

[Canada Bonsai]

Many trees in the collection range from 1m to 2m (3.2 to 6.5'), but there are smaller ones as well.

Here I am with Furo, to help give a sense of scale.



Ogawa-san is the master gardener responsible for the collection. I was fortunate to have a private hands-on workshop and horticultural lessons during my visit. Ogawa-san's experience with ume began before I was born, and watching him work and also having him correct my techniques was an incredible experience to say the least

 

[Canada Bonsai]

Many of you will be travelling to Japan in February 2026 for the 100th Kokufu Exhibition.

To get to Nagahama from Tokyo, take the shinkansen to Maibara station. Once arrived at Maibara, you can take a 10 minute taxi ride to Nagahama.

The Nagahama Bonbai exhibition can be visited in 1-2 hours, and Maibara station is just 1 stop before Kyoto, and on the way to Osaka. Although staying in Nagahama can be interesting, you can also make this exhibition a short stop on your way to Kyoto or Osaka. If you do, try to time it so that you can have lunch in Nagahama, you won't regret it.

This is their official website
長浜盆梅展

73rd Nagahama Plum Exhibition ”Bonbaiten”

Information about the Nagahama Plum Exhibition ”Bonbaiten”.

bonbai.jp

And their instagram and Facebook pages are especially interesting because they often share videos of how the trees are moved

https://www.instagram.com/nagahama_bonbai/

長浜盆梅展 | Nagahama-shi Shiga

長浜盆梅展, Nagahama, Shiga. 2,735 likes · 193 talking about this · 1,673 were here. 関西に春の訪れを告げる風物詩。明治時代の長浜の迎賓館慶雲館を会場に数百年を超える梅の古木約９０鉢を展示します。

www.facebook.com

 

[n8]

Awesome. Thanks for sharing the pictures and information.

 

[Yamamomiji]

Wow, what a sight (and site) to behold.
Incredible ...

Thank you for showing us this very special collection.
I have been numerous times in Japan but never made it to Nagahama - most likely, I was not that into bonsai some years ago.

With all that work, beauty and dedication, I tend to say: "Only in Japan ...".
I can nearly see 10 people carefully moving Shōryūbai (昇龍煤 - literally meaning upwards moving dragon ume, many may now 昇竜拳 Shōryūken from Street Figher II) to its place for us visitors to see in awe.

What great things human can achieve.
Thank you again for showing!

 

[yenling83]

I really appreciate you taking us along on your adventure! The pics are awesome, this is some really cool stuff

A few questions i'm curious about:

-What is the difference between Bonsai and Bonbai? I haven't heard much about Bonbai and I'm curious to hear anything you've learned about it. Or why they may have a distinction, is Bonbai simply a sub category of Bonsai?

-Would you say the simple single white variety is the most popular in Japan amongst Bonsai and Bonbai enthusiasts? I believe they call this the wild variety as it's found in the natural environment in certain parts of Asia.

-Are ume ever collected from the natural environment? I know they come from orchard trees, private collections and such, but i'm wondering if they are collected from the wild in other parts of Asia.

-Would you say that the general approach to ume wood preservation never includes wood hardener in Japan? I believe i've seen pine sap melted and applied to deadwood, but i've never seen any wood hardener used like here in the States.

Thanks!

 

[Yamamomiji]

-What is the difference between Bonsai and Bonbai? I haven't heard much about Bonbai and I'm curious to hear anything you've learned about it. Or why they may have a distinction, is Bonbai simply a sub category of Bonsai?

Your guess is right. Bonbai (盆梅) is simply the reduction to ume in pots (last character 梅 stands for plum) while 盆栽 is meant for all plants in general (栽).

 

[JeffS73]

Superb information, really appreciate these posts and pictures. Thank you!

 

[Canada Bonsai]

-What is the difference between Bonsai and Bonbai? I haven't heard much about Bonbai and I'm curious to hear anything you've learned about it. Or why they may have a distinction, is Bonbai simply a sub category of Bonsai?

As @Yamamomiji noted, it basically refers to Ume in pots. As non-Japanese speakers, we can easily get caught up in the literal meaning of the word 'bonsai' (i.e. planted in a container) vs how the term is used in daily life and what it is used to refer to. People might have heard that Satsuki Azaleas (or Niwaki, for example) are not 'bonsai' conceptually, although they fit the literaral definition of the term. I think something like that is happening with potted ume at the Nagahama Bonbai or the Tenmagu Shrine Ume Exhibition. It's not something I ask about too much, I don't really care, and as a non-native speaker of Japanese my ability to fully comprehend this situation is beyond my grasp.

On that note though, depending on the artist there is considerable blurring of the lines between the aethetics of ume at the Nagahama Bonbai and those we see in bonsai exhibitions. There is a major overlap but also very interesting differences. I'm speaking strictly here about how they look, to me

-Would you say the simple single white variety is the most popular in Japan amongst Bonsai and Bonbai enthusiasts? I believe they call this the wild variety as it's found in the natural environment in certain parts of Asia.

-Are ume ever collected from the natural environment? I know they come from orchard trees, private collections and such, but i'm wondering if they are collected from the wild in other parts of Asia.

I will respond to both of these at once, and will do my best to keep it short and polite

Regarding 'single' white flowers being the most popular -- no, definitely not, despite what gets repeated by professionals and hobbyists in North America because one professional decided to state things as fact based on very limited experience and sweeping speculative generalizations about 'what Japanese people like'.

The differences we see in color, shape, size, etc. of the flowers on Ume (in all contexts) is as varied as are the sources of material. Yes, some are collected. Some are grown from seed. Some are grown from cutting. Some are grown in pots. Some are field grown. etc. I could go on for an hour about how different aspects of the ume-production networks function in Japan, from specialist growers to expert grafters, hobbyists and professionals working on trees. What is definitely not true--and I'll refrain from taking a quote right out of your podcast--is this nonsense rumour being spread by professionals and hobbyists that the majority of ume bonsai come from 'new years plants'. It's simply not true. Once again the source of this rumour seems to be a single professional who also in this case decided to state things as fact based on his own limited experience.

-Would you say that the general approach to ume wood preservation never includes wood hardener in Japan? I believe i've seen pine sap melted and applied to deadwood, but i've never seen any wood hardener used like here in the States.

Depends on the person (and I have not met them all), and I have seen some individuals use it for ume only at certain stages of development, in certain conditions, or in certain growing environments. I have been given at least a dozen different recipes for this.

 

[Carol 83]

Thanks for taking the time to share these fantastic trees that most of us would never have a chance to see in person.

 

[Canada Bonsai]

Entirely unrelated to the Nagahama Bonbai Exhibition, is the ume and katana exhibition at the Osaka Tenmangu Shrine (大阪天満宮)

Rather than starting a separate thread for this exhibition I thought I might just add a few images here, since if you've already clicked and read this far you likely won't mind a few extra pictures of ume.

At this exhibition, almost all of the trees are under 2m (6.5') tall. Unlike the Nagahama Bonbai exhibition, at the Osaka Tenmangu Shrine ume exhibition the trees are not as 'special' in the sense that many of them resemble what you could walk into a nursery and buy today -- on this point though, it's my job to buy bonsai in Japan all day every day and I literally see hundreds of ume per week. So I don't want to give the wrong impression here -- as a tourist or bonsai hobbyists, you will absolutely be impressed by this exhibition. If you only have time for one of the two ume exhibitions though, the Nagahama Bonbai is infinitely superior in terms of curation and care, and thus the level of sophistication of each tree and the exhibition as a whole.



















One of my favourite styles of ume is the 'missing trunk' style (I don't know what else to call it). In each case, it looks like the trunk was removed leaving behind only 2 totally separated (not touching eachother) pieces of bark from which the branches emerge. Here are 2 examples to illustrate this style that I am referring to. As you can see, the branches of these 2 specimens can be significantly improved

​

 

[Yamamomiji]

That is (again) superb documentation @Canada Bonsai ... thank you so much for showing and your insight.
I might be mistaken, but the exhibition is named: Bonbai to tōkenten ...(tōken meaning cut/thrust weapon and ten exhibition). Katana (刀) is only the first character for the famous sword.

The missing trunk style is exceptionally brilliant, I have never seen such a design ... split trunk yes, but never this fully separated. I think 'missing' is just the right term. 　Wonder would the Japanese call it ...

 

[Yamabudoudanshi]

What an amazing show. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Nybonsai12]

Incredible! Ume really are spectacular, the bark, the deadwood, the variety of colorful flowers, the scents. The blooming of flowers while simultaneously looking like it’s on deaths door is such a delightful contrast. Best flowering species hands down! Thank you for sharing pics and info!

 

[Yamamomiji]

The blooming of flowers while simultaneously looking like it’s on deaths door is such a delightful contrast.

Well put, quite an essence of life.

 

[Michael P]

Thanks so much for this discussion! I have no ume but am starting to work with a somewhat similar native species Mexican plum Prunus mexicana. I have seen only one Mexican plum bonsai so I am looking to ume for inspiration.

 

[misfit11]

As @Yamamomiji noted, it basically refers to Ume in pots. As non-Japanese speakers, we can easily get caught up in the literal meaning of the word 'bonsai' (i.e. planted in a container) vs how the term is used in daily life and what it is used to refer to. People might have heard that Satsuki Azaleas (or Niwaki, for example) are not 'bonsai' conceptually, although they fit the literaral definition of the term. I think something like that is happening with potted ume at the Nagahama Bonbai or the Tenmagu Shrine Ume Exhibition. It's not something I ask about too much, I don't really care, and as a non-native speaker of Japanese my ability to fully comprehend this situation is beyond my grasp.

On that note though, depending on the artist there is considerable blurring of the lines between the aethetics of ume at the Nagahama Bonbai and those we see in bonsai exhibitions. There is a major overlap but also very interesting differences. I'm speaking strictly here about how they look, to me





I will respond to both of these at once, and will do my best to keep it short and polite

Regarding 'single' white flowers being the most popular -- no, definitely not, despite what gets repeated by professionals and hobbyists in North America because one professional decided to state things as fact based on very limited experience and sweeping speculative generalizations about 'what Japanese people like'.

The differences we see in color, shape, size, etc. of the flowers on Ume (in all contexts) is as varied as are the sources of material. Yes, some are collected. Some are grown from seed. Some are grown from cutting. Some are grown in pots. Some are field grown. etc. I could go on for an hour about how different aspects of the ume-production networks function in Japan, from specialist growers to expert grafters, hobbyists and professionals working on trees. What is definitely not true--and I'll refrain from taking a quote right out of your podcast--is this nonsense rumour being spread by professionals and hobbyists that the majority of ume bonsai come from 'new years plants'. It's simply not true. Once again the source of this rumour seems to be a single professional who also in this case decided to state things as fact based on his own limited experience.



Depends on the person (and I have not met them all), and I have seen some individuals use it for ume only at certain stages of development, in certain conditions, or in certain growing environments. I have been given at least a dozen different recipes for this.

What are "New Years Plants"? Does this refer to the idea that they can only be enjoyed during this brief time of the year that they flower?

 

[Empty Mountain]

What are "New Years Plants"? Does this refer to the idea that they can only be enjoyed during this brief time of the year that they flower?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadomatsu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Friends_of_Winter