After the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, which leveled the region, bonsai artists in the destroyed Tokyo needed to relocate. They selected an area near Omiya, north of Tokyo with clean air, good water and among a grove of tall Japanese red pines. In 1925, 100 years ago, three pioneer bonsai artists, Ritaro Shimizu, Tokuo Kuraishi and Tomekichi Kato combined their talent and effort to establish Omiya Bonsai Village in March 1925. By December 1926 19 bonsai gardens were founded and enthusiasts began moving to the Omiya Bonsai Village to grow, train and appreciate bonsai.
In the beginning years residents had several rules to follow: maintain at least 10 pots of bonsai, have their gardens open to the public, no two-story buildings and must include a hedge of living plants. Today the Omiya Bonsai Village includes eight bonsai gardens. One of the earliest, the Mansei-en Bonsai Garden was established by Tomekichi Kato and in 1925 is the only remaining original pioneers. Currently the garden is managed by the 5th generation Takahiro Kato. Kyuka-en Bonsai Garden closely followed being established in 1929 by Kyuzo Murata.
Over the next 100 years the founders established a modern-day bonsai culture, preserving the bonsai tradition despite the threat of its demise during World War II. Today Omiya Bonsai Village has come to be regarded as “The Bonsai Mecca” by people around the globe.
There have been special exhibits, sales and festivals throughout 2025 in Omiya. The pride of the current bonsai artists cumulated on November 14, 2025 at the Palace Hotel Omiya with the invitation-only 100th Anniversary Commemorative Ceremony, well-organized by the Executive Committee lead by the Executive Chairman Takahiro Kato.
The commemorative ceremony evening event was a special and elegant for about 300 people. During the reception a side room had large historical photos enlarged and maps from 1920s showing the development of the Omiya Bonsai Village. In the large reception room approximately 30 large-size famous bonsai were displayed by the bonsai garden owners, a few from each, representing their artistry and speciality. Of course, each masterpiece bonsai was on an appropriate display table.
Mr. Kato’s famous masterpiece bonsai, an estimated 700-year old Sargent juniper was displayed on the right side of the stage in an antique Chinese container with the poetic name “Ryuoh.” The tree was so large and heavy a wooden block was placed under the sturdy display table to prevent collapse. It was carefully hidden with a brown cloth identical to the table covering it was displayed on. In fact all the bonsai were displayed on identical brown tablecloths throughout the room. On the left side of the stage was a famous large Japanese five-needle pine masterpiece named “Murakumo” displayed by Tetsu Kurosu. Looking from the back side of the room, both bonsai were well-balanced and of the same height. Although the Japanese five-needle pine was shorter in height than the huge heavy Sargent juniper, the tops of each of the bonsai were level, with the terminals at the same height. The shorter Japanese five-needle pine was sitting on a taller display table to even out the height difference between it and the taller Sargent juniper sitting on a shorter display table. It is little details like the table covering color and tree heights which elevates the art of bonsai to the refined level we now appreciate. Probably none of the 300 guests notice these small details, but I did.
Japanese koto music was playing during the reception time and there was “heavy grazing.” The official ceremony began with a welcome from Mr. Kato followed by remarks from the Governor of Saitama Prefecture and the Mayor of Saitama City (Omiya.)
The next part was most interesting and appropriate. Seven of the bonsai garden owners each spoke for a few minutes and also discussed their masterpiece trees. I think it is rare to see all of these gentlemen together, dressed in suits with white flower ribbons. In fact, they all stood in a reception line at the end thanking everyone for attending. It was a truly classic refined event
Omiya Bonsai Village Owners left to right:
Takahiro Kato, Mansei-en Bonsai Garden
Yukio Murata, Kyuka-en Bonsai Garden
Hirota Kanta, Toju-en Bonsai Garden
Tomio Yamada, Seiko-en Bonsai Garden
Hiroshi Takeyama, Fuyo-en Bonsai Garden
Teruo Kurosu, Shotetsu-en Bonsai Garden
Tadashi Ohno, Bonsai Ohno
After the garden owners spoke there were two foreign speakers, Harold Lehner from Germany representing the European bonsai community and me who represented the English-speaking bonsai world. It was appropriate for me to say a few words since I first came to Japan to study bonsai in Omiya 55 years ago and have seen many positive changes in the Japanese bonsai community.
Wm. N.Valavanis and bonsai tool maker Hirokuni Masakuni
Yukio Murata with one of his grandfather’s Hinokii cypress bonsai
The two foreign speeches concluded the event and we all wish the best of good luck and look forward to progress to Omiya’s Bonsai Village for the next 100 years.
