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 show with all new displays. This year the exhibit featured a whopping 181 displays in each half for a total of 362 displays!
Large displays
Shohin displays
This years exhibit featured some pretty big bonsai – here are some of the large conifers.
Shimpaku
White pine
Needle juniper
Semi-cascade white pine
Shimpaku
One of my favorite medium-size trees in the exhibit was a black pine shown with a trident maple. I liked that the tree had strong movement to the left and a surprisingly large trunk for a tree under 18″ tall.
Trident maple and black pine
Black pine
One of the trees that received the most attention in part two was a juniper with a slender trunk. The movement was fantastic and the ribbon of deadwood that formed the trunk was surprisingly thin.
Shimpaku
The deciduous bonsai were equally awesome. Here are some of my favorites.
Four trident maples on a stone
Koran hornbeam
Japanese maple
Chinese quince