We all love bonsai, to many of us it is a way of life, as we care for the trees and shape them into bonsai. Many require decades of timeless hard work which we find pleasurable as we create living art.
For some time now, there have been numerous bonsai masterpieces stolen in Japan, moved to an Asian country then sold to westerners, especially in the United Sates, through the internet. The thieves are disrespecting the years of time, often through multiple generations, Japanese bonsai artists take to create their art. Several bonsai artists are using video cameras to guard their treasurers. Others have closed their gardens to foreigners.
To many, bonsai are more than small trees in pots, having spent years of development. To some thief’s it is an illegal business just make money.
This illegal busines of selling stolen bonsai to foreigners must be stopped. I strongly suggest not purchase famous masterpiece bonsai from out of the United States, especially at low prices. How do you determine if you are offered masterpiece bonsai at a ridiculous low price? Simple, if the bonsai sale deal is too good to be true, it probably is.
Last year in July 2023 my son forwarded a bonsai offered for sale and asked if I recognized the tree. The price was US $500, POSTPAID. I told him to buy as many as he can… just kidding, I did nothing. Of course, I recognized the bonsai as having seen it multiple times in Japan. This multiple award-winning masterpiece Japanese black pine is one of the most famous iconic well-known bonsai in Japan named “Kokuryu.” I have often studied it at many exhibitions and have seen it in Masahiko Kimura’s Garden. Kunio Kobayashi, Shunka-en Bonsai Museum, is responsible for saving the bonsai from death and creating a new design a couple of decades ago.
Japanese black pine “Kokuryu” 1977. Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition prize winner
The last time I saw it was at the 2023 Kokufu Bonsai exhibition (it grew!)
Japanese black pine “Kokuryu” 2023. Displayed at the 2023 97th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition.
I strongly suggest and urge people think seriously about buying Japanese bonsai offered on the internet at low prices.