Spotted in the Wild
Historical Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and RSS posts previously curated by the club (2017–present). Not authored by the club — preserved here since the original source feeds no longer carry this history.
Shohin bonsai at the 100th Kokufu exhibit
Each half of the Kokufu exhibit features a small number of shohin displays. The exhibit is set up to present the large trees first, then the medium bonsai, and finally the shohin. They’re the last bonsai you see before…
The Passing of a Great Bonsai Master Tomio Yamada
Tomio Yamada 1938-2026 Tomio Yamada, 3 rd generation proprietor of Seiko-en Bonsai Garden in Omiya Bonsai Village has passed away quite recently. Seiko-en Bonsai Garden was founded by his grandfather Shonosuke but was…
A Limber Pine Goes On A Corian Slab
I collected this Limber Pine with Steve Varland and Dan Wiederrecht about a decade ago. It looked younger than the delicious, half-deadwood trees on the slopes nearby. Then a couple years ago bark started to peel in the…
Part two of the 100th Kokufu exhibit
For the past twelve years, the Kokufu-ten has been divided into two halves. For these double shows, the organizers set up the exhibit and open it to the public for a few days, then close for a day or two to reset the…
The Nebari Of The Kokufu
The Kokufu show is a goldmine. You can walk through it or flip through a show book and realize you’re just looking at the stands. Or the branch setting. Or the pots. In this year’s Kokufu I took some closeups of the…
Special trees at the 100th Kokufu exhibit
Last month the Japanese Bonsai Association hosted the 100th national exhibit, the Kokufu, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Ueno Park, Tokyo. The event was busier than it has been in recent years, and a larger…
Kouka-en in the snow
For much of the northern hemisphere, seeing snow-covered bonsai in winter is nothing out of the ordinary. For Keiichi Fujikawa, proprietor of the Fujikawa Kouka-en bonsai garden in Osaka, the sight is far from normal.…
Japan 2026: Last Notes
A few final stories from my Japan trip. The first hour in Obuse was bittersweet. You might recognize this tree from a photo in Post-dated: The Schooling of an Irreverent Bonsai Monk . Walking home after a long day I’d…
100th Kofu-Fu Bonsai Exhibition- Part II, 2026– Part 1
Part II of the exhibition on Saturday. I have never seen such a crowd in the 40 years I’ve attended. It looked that there were even more foreign visitors than Part I. There were no Stewartia displayed. Lots of cascade…
2026 Kokufu-ten: Part I
A few of the ridiculous trees in Part I of the Kokufu-ten. Wednesday was the take-down and switch-out to new trees. And now it’s open again for Part II. The entrance to the show looks down on the large displays. This is…
100th Kofu-Fu Bonsai Exhibition- Part I, 2026– Part 2
Part I of the exhibition continued for four days, Sunday through Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday all the bonsai on display will be removed and replaced with fresh trees. That’s a monumental task, especially since all…
100th Koku-Fu Bonsai Exhibition- Part I, 2026– Part 1
100 th Koku-Fu Bonsai Exhibition opened today, February 8, 2026, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Ueno Park, Tokyo, Japan. When it began in March 1934 two exhibitions were held yearly, one in winter and autumn.…
A Day Visit To Omiya Bonsai Village
NO these bonsai are not packed for sale! That’s winter protection for valuable bonsai masterpieces at Mr. Takeyama’s Fuyo-en bonsai garden. More later Today Diane, Corin, Lee and I spent a COLD day with our friend…
A Week In Okinawa
Here is an interlude post about my trip to Okinawa. Next week, back to bonsai, where I hope to share some wonderful old bonsai on Honshu. The city of Naha, at the southern end of Okinawa. At the top of the main island…
Highlights from the Bay Area Bonsai Associates 42nd exhibit
Last month the Bay Area Bonsai Associates held their 42nd annual exhibit at the Lake Merritt Garden Center in Oakland, California. The event featured an exhibit, sales area, and Saturday evening demonstration by Adam…
Japanese Black Pine Styling: #3
Here’s one more rough Japanese Black Pine. There hasn’t been much taper on these 3 pines. A large cut to a new leader is in order for this one as well. After cutting back. The big shoot comes off a promising new leader.…
Japanese Black Pine Styling: #2
Here’s another Japanese Black Pine with major choices ahead. Let’s take a look. A scruffy little Black Pine with a few promising lower branches and a lot of nothing halfway up. After several initial cuts the pine is…
Twin Trunk (Sōkan): The Quiet Conversation Between Two Trees
In bonsai, some styles announce themselves immediately. Cascades dramatise gravity, literati defy it, and formal uprights project an almost architectural authority. The twin trunk style— Sōkan in Japanese—does something…
Full-Moon Maple Development & Reshaping After Falling
I like the Full-Moon maple, Acer japonicum, which is native to Japan and Korea. It is a similar to the widely popular Japanese maple, Acer palmatum, which is also native to Japan, Korea China and Russia. The Full-Moon…
Japanese Black Pine Styling
Last week we took a look at this leggy Black Pine. The pine reminded me of a crane. Taking off with its long neck stretched out. It won’t be a good bonsai with such wings. So they need to be tucked in. And that neck is…
Pruning flowering quince
I usually aim to prune flowering quince such as boke, toyonishiki, or chojubai in fall after most of the leaves turn color and begin to fall off. In recent years, however, my garden has lacked the cold required to make…
How Kaizen May Be Applied To Bonsai
In the 1930’s engineer Walter Shewhart developed the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle of work. This inspired Taiichi Ohno in the late 1940’s with the idea of kaizen , a manufacturing mindset of continual, incremental…
New bonsai season begins
As we step into 2026, a new bonsai season awaits us. Winter has finally arrived, bringing below-freezing temperatures that play an essential role in the life cycle of our trees. This cold period helps them enter deep…
2025 Blooper Reel
To continue with tradition, here is the year’s photographic odds and ends. Hope you enjoy. It’s always best to start things off with a chicken, if you have one. This one was drinking water drops off my glass doors. Your…