100th 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. This schedule was repeated until World War II began and stopped and began after a few years. Several decades ago a double exhibition was held on the tenth years to commemorate the milestones. Then the Nippon Bonsai Association began to sponsor the exhibition in 1964. Before it was sponsored by the Koku-Fu Bonsai Club. Then it was decided to hold double show yearly where approximately all 250 masterpieces were replaced by new bonsai. So, this historic exhibition commemorates the 100th anniversary, not 100 years.
The weather is unusually cold this year and we had about two inches of snow. Where I come from we don’t even count two inches, and I remember six inches of the white stuff on the ground in mid-May. It was amusing to see the vendors using leaf blowers and water sprayers to remove the snow since paying customers could not even see the smaller size bonsai in the outdoor sales area. The three- story Ueno Green Club, owned and operated by the Nippon Bonsai Growers Association, are packed with trees, containers, tools, supplies, suiseki and even hanging scrolls for the first time. Quite a few masterpiece bonsai were for sale which were displayed in past exhibition. Once a bonsai receives the coveted Koku-Fu Award it is not allowed to win the same award, however, it can be displayed again. All around the world people like to win awards and the Japanese bonsai community is not different. In this case the value of the tree often decreases because it can never win again. However, many bonsai do increase in value because they are award winning trees. The professional bonsai artists tend to promote the unaware trees to their clients because they still have a potential to win. And, the professionals make quite of bit of money shaping, refining, boarding and preparing trees for several years prior to showing.
I have personally visited this exhibition for about forty years and today’s Part I is one of the finest in quality. Often the bonsai in Part I and Part II vary in fine quality, which the public is not even aware of. Usually the bonsai are better in Part II. This year additional display tables were added and the NBA did not have tables to sell the commemorative albums and memberships.
I have seen larger crowds on opening days, but never have seen such a great number of foreign bonsai lovers from around the world. Even the Japanese public braved their “severe” weather to attend.
Tomorrow I will report, with new photos of course, on the statics and more personal comments on the 100th Koku-Fu Bonsai Exhibition Part I after I complete my calculations since one visit is long enough for me to study the 200 plus trees, I’m a slow learner but thorough.
