Japan trip part 2 [angyo, omiya and hanazono] *******pic intensive*********

[MACH5]

On this PART 2 of my recent trip to Japan, I will be sharing a series of photographs that chronicle my visit to various bonsai growers, commercial establishments, bonsai professionals and amateurs alike located in the areas of Angyo, Omiya and Hanazono. These pictures represent a time span of 2 days.

My general impression was that the quality of bonsai in Japan is quite high in most places, while their pricing seemed to be much lower particularly when compared to the US market for example. Almost all bonsai professionals, amateurs and growers alike use straight akadama as their preferred growing medium. This may be in part due to the fact that akadama in Japan is very cheap and plants do very well in it.

As you will notice, throughout this thread some pictures of trees have prices on them. In case you may be interested, a quick tip to convert Yen is to move the decimal point one space over to the right and that will give you the price in US dollars.

June is traditionally the rainy season in Japan known as "tsuyu". So, as one may have expected, it pretty much rained on and off the entire time I was in Japan, making picture taking at times somewhat of a hassle. So... at any rate, grab an umbrella and let's go!


*PLEASE NOTE: You can access JAPAN TRIP PART 1 [TAISHO-EN] by clicking on this link: http://bonsainut.com/forums/showthr...Part-1-Taisho-en-*****-PIC-INTENSIVE!!!****** I am in the process of restoring the content in this thread. While doing some editing work on my Photobucket account many pictures were removed by accident. Hopefully sooner rather than later it will be all complete again.


DAY 1 FIRST STOP: KAWAGUCHI-RYOKKA CENTER [ANGYO]

This comercial center was clean and well cared for with many quality bonsai on display. The selection was good with many varieties and sizes to choose from. Most of the trees were acquired from local artists/growers and then resold here.

 

[MACH5]

 

[MACH5]

The center also had a wide selection of new and used Japanese pots for sale. I bought myself a few

 

[MACH5]

DAY 1 SECOND STOP: MAEHASHIDO-EN [ANGYO]

We took a short 15 minute car ride to Maehashido-en owned by Mr. Maeno who is well known in Japanese bonsai circles for his beautiful Satsuki azaleas. Unfortunately most of his Satsuki were off limits and were not allowed to be photographed. However, he also had many different species of trees on display available to the public. The space was rather cramped making it difficult to photograph the trees. It also started to rain making any efforts of taking decent pics challenging. Despite this I was able to take a few before we had to run back to our car to avoid getting soaked and worse yet, ruin my camera!

 

[MACH5]

 

[MACH5]

DAY 1 THIRD STOP: UNKOWN [OMIYA]

We made an impromptu stop at a small nursery on the way to the house of Mr. Uchida. No one seemed to be available to talk to but nevertheless we took a quick look around. There was mostly shohin size trees for sale and a good many of them were maples. The quality offered was of a lower grade than other places I had seen.

 

[MACH5]

DAY 1 FOURTH STOP: HOUSE OF MR. UCHIDA [OMIYA]

Next, my friend and I went to visit Mr. Uchida at his own house. His garden and home seemed to be all incorporated together. In fact even the front of his house was full of bonsai as was the roof itself! He is another amateur bonsai enthusiast that liked to work and propagate Shimpaku and white pine. Mr. Uchida, a soft spoken man, was very gracious and invited us inside to see the rest of his collection up at the rooftop. Unfortunately he is now ill and because of it he has sold most of his large size bonsai. I was told that what is left now is only a mere shadow of what he originally kept.

 

[MACH5]

And below are pics taken at the rooftop of Mr. Uchida's house.



























As seen looking down from the back of the house was the skeleton of a large greenhouse. It was apparently not in use anymore.

 

[MACH5]

DAY 1 FITH STOP: SHOKUBUTSU-EN BOTANICAL GARDENS [ANGYO]

Driving now back from Omiya to Angyo, we went to the Shokubutsu botanical gardens where right at the entrance they had a medley of bonsai, flowers, shrubs and larger landscape material for sale. Thankfully the sun was finally peeking through and we were getting some nice late afternoon sunshine.

 

[MACH5]

While perusing the offerings outside, we were told that inside there was an amateur bonsai exhibit that was about to close down! So we quickly went in to check it out and I manage to snap a few pictures before it was all tore down. The exhibit was put together rather economically and despite the fact that it was only amateur hobbyists exhibiting their trees, the show offered some truly beautiful and outstanding pieces.

 

[MACH5]

Adjacent to the exhibit, there was a small vending area where the exhibitors themselves had a few of their bonsai for sale.

 

[MACH5]

DAY 1 SIXTH STOP: CHIKUJU-EN [ANGYO]

From the botanical center we now headed over to visit Mr. Nakayama owner of Chikuju-en nursery. He works on different species of trees but told us that he liked maples the best. He had many beautiful shohin size Japanese maple specimens on his benches for sale. Most of his bonsai seem to fall within the Chuhin and Shohin category. It was getting dark, so I only had a chance to take just a few photos of his place.



















Mr. Nakayama took us inside for some hot green tea and proceeded to explain his growing techniques and methods as he drew on a piece of paper.








And that concluded DAY 1.

 

[MACH5]

On DAY 2, we had a late start. The weather was not cooperating as severe thunderstorms rolled into Tokyo early that morning. The plan was to travel all the way to the town of Hanazono located about 1.5 hours away from the hotel in Saitama Prefecture. With our trip being delayed, we were not able to get going until after 12 o'clock in the afternoon. Regardless, this day proved to be very productive since I got to meet some very interesting bonsai folks and see their beautiful collections!

DAY 2 FIRST STOP: HANAZONO KABOKU CENTER [HANAZONO]

The area of Hanazono seemed to be somewhat rural and there were rice paddies everywhere you looked. The Kaboku bonsai center was large and, like many others, offered a wide variety of species of good to excellent quality at very reasonable prices. The nursery looked tidy and trees looked well cared for and healthy. Most of what was for sale was acquired from local growers and private collections.

 

[MACH5]

This incredible and huge Japanese white beech had great beauty and physical presence! I stood in front of it for quite some time just in awe. From soil level it was about 3.5' tall with flawless bark all the way to the top. This tree was for sale for a little over $2,000!!!! Yes that is not a typo!

 

[MACH5]

DAY 2 SECOND STOP: YODO BONSAI CENTER [HANAZONO]

Our second stop was another bonsai commercial center. It offered similar quality and variety to the Kaboku center but it was not very well kept and some of the trees didn't look their best. I must say I liked the combination of baby stroller and milk crate to make for a handy-dandy shopping cart!



























There was also a wide variety of mostly used Japanese and Chinese pots for sale. I bought a few small ones.

 

[MACH5]

DAY 2 THIRD STOP: AOKI-EN GARDENS [HANAZONO]

This nursery was owned and operated by Mr. Aoki and his wife. A simple, humble and quite a hospitable man, he had a huge place full of bonsai and pre-bonsai material. By his own admission, Mr. Aoki said that he was tired of working so much and left parts of his nursery somewhat neglected. At the time of my visit I only saw two workers tending to the plants but it seemed that a lot more was needed to tackle this place. My guess was that Mr. Aoki probably had about 3 full acres of trees to take care of!

 

[MACH5]

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[MACH5]

Mr. Aoki then took us inside to show us some old artifacts and things that he had inherited from his father.











When I asked him if he had any pots for sale, he took out from a cabinet an amazingly exquisite bonsai pot that his father passed on to him. It is estimated to be well over 300 years old. When I ran my hand over it, it was not like any other pot I have felt before. Its surface was simply sublime! Of course, needless to say it was not for sale.











As we were leaving, he pointed to the arch that graces the front of his house. He said it was 100 years old and that it was the oldest part of his house. So I asked to take a picture with him underneath it. As we were getting ready for the photo, his wife told him that he needed to pull up his pants, tie his shoes, tuck in his shirt and fix his hair! I had a good laugh about it as he just stood there calmly taking direction from his wife.

 

[MACH5]

DAY 2 FOURTH STOP: SHOKO-EN [HANAZONO]

Shoko-en is owned and operated by bonsai professional Mr. Koike. He runs a large operation and specializes in Japanese white pine and Shimpaku juniper, although as you will see he had many beautiful Japanese maple specimen trees on display. He sells quite a bit of his bonsai overseas with Europe being a big market for him. He is also a master propagator of Shimpaku and his skill is well known in Japan. There is a boarding service that he offers at Shoko-en. Many of his client's trees are at the nursery under his care 24/7.


Mr. Koike was very gracious and was happy to have us over for a visit and answer any questions we may have had. He also allowed photos anywhere within the premisses.

 

[MACH5]

Mr. Koike grew an incredible number of pre-bonsai Shimpaku junipers. He grew them all in pots from young seedlings.











As we looked around his nursery, we stumble upon this huge Japanese white pine. It appeared much older than it really was. It was "only" 60 years old. Mr. Koike showed us where the pine had been grafted onto a Japanese black pine stock visible at the bottom where there is a line going across the girth of its trunk.











There was a very nice collection of Japanese maples towards the entrance of the nursery. Some where already sold to a client in Spain while others were still for sale. I had asked him specifically about leaf scorching since they seem to be growing out in the open. He said that in recent years, weather conditions in Japan have changed and now he must place them under shade during high summertime.