3 elements for the best combination of plants and bonsai pots

Hello, I am Yuki, an owner of the bonsai pots online store YUKIMONO.

I like pondering what the best combination of plants and bonsai pots is. Once I thought there might be some kind of an unwritten rule of the best combination with plants and pots and guessed that it would be known among only expert bonsai artists. 

One day I asked my bonsai teacher whom I have admired since I saw his work 3 years ago, to tell me about this. He laughed and told me only the following 3 keywords are important elements for the combination of a plant and a pot.

They are very abstract, so I interpreted them in my own way.

1. Harmony  調和   

I think it means better balance, composition and colors with plants and pots. This is what I often ponder when I pot plants in a pot.

2. Dignity  品格 

It is necessary to think about not only the harmony, but also the dignity. It can be said that “dignity” represents the Japanese traditional style of bonsai. Respect and learn the traditional style, and your work will have dignity. I supose so.

3. Individuality (uniqueness) 個性 

I think it’s very difficult to show someone’s color in the combination of plants and bonsai pots while keeping "Harmony" and "Dignity."  As the proverb says, it’s hard to please all parties. I asked my bonsai teacher what it exactly means and how I should show the uniqueness of my work. 

He replied as follows, “It doesn’t mean to do something unusual. Just try to express natural scenery with plants and pots. For example, imagine the beautiful scenery of maple trees in the spring field, and you will recall the beautiful yellow green color of maples. Thinking what I should do to bring out the yellow green color, that’s one of the ways to express the natural scenery. Try to do it many times and your individuality will be shown someday.”

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Osezaki where bonsai enthusiasts should visit

Hello, I am Yuki, an owner of the bonsai pots online store YUKIMONO.

If you are a bonsai enthusiast and have a plan to travel Japan, I think Osezaki(大瀬崎) is one of the places of interest you should visit.

http://www.osezaki.jp/

Osezaki, a very small cape located to the south of Numazu-city（沼津） in Shizuoka（静岡）prefecture, is popular for the natural forest of Shimpaku (actually, a kind of cypress) among Japanese bonsai enthusiasts. It takes about 45 minutes by bus from JR Numazu station or about 30 minutes by ship from Numazu port.

Shimpaku has long been popular as a typical bonsai material tree in japan. Old Japanese people have seen natural Shimpaku in the wild and have tried to make bonsai as it looked.

As the Shimpaku get older and more weather-beaten, some of their branches or trunk skins die and become white. The shape impressed people as a tree of great character. They loved Shimpaku so much that they deliberately sharpened some branches or trunk skins of the tree to make them dead when they made bonsai with Shimpaku. The dead branch is called “Jin” and the trunk that dies and becomes white is called “Syari” in the bonsai world.

Today, unfortunately, we hardly see natural Shimpaku. The only the way to see the figure might be by going to Osezaki. Go walking to the tip of the cape and you will see many splendid big, old Shimpaku with a lot of great “Jin” and “Syari.”

This summer,　I visited Osezaki where I have wanted to go for ages. The trees really impressed me more than I expected. I think that natural creations are much more beautiful than the those-man-made.

Here are wonderful creations at Osezaki,

Thank you for visiting YUKIMONO blog!

The bonsai pots giving a ‘cooling’ feeling

Though there will be some rain this week, the hot and humid days are continuing in Tokyo. So in order to enjoy cooling sensation, I will show you some cool-looking bonsai pots today. Hope they make you feel like you are in the cool air or sea.

The hexagonal bonsai pot in bright blueglaze by Shuuhou

Looking at this pot, I feel as though I’m on a glacier in the valley between high mountains like the Swiss Alps. I have never been there, so I just imagine. The deep blue glaze is covered over the light blue glaze on this pot. The flow of the deep blue glaze creates interesting patterns and the cool-looking gradations of blue color.

This pot is available here 

The oval bonsai pot in Celadon glaze byEimei

This pot was made by the potter, Hideaki Shimizu/Eimei of Tokoname and is one of his representative works. Eimei is Mr. Shimizu’s professional name as a potter. He is one of the most famous bonsai potters in Japan and his works have had a significant influence on bonsai potters overseas. 

I think the characteristics of his works are the beauty of the form and the very delicate color of the glaze. The Celadon glaze of this pot sometimes looks light yellow green and sometimes light blue. The small crazes covering the surface make the pot more attractive. They look like small crystals of ice and that’s why I like seeing it on hot days.

You can see it more here.

The round bonsai pot with large nailheaddesign, clear blue glaze by Shuuhou

My customer living in the US, saw this pot and said that looks like something you would see underwater in the Caribean. That is very true! 

The glaze looks like the water keeps flowing on the surface of the pot. Some glaze drops on the brim of the pot giving a cool feeling.

It is also available here.

Please visit our online store YUKIMONO. Thank you!

Invitation to the bonsai exhibiton at "Ogikubo Hachiman"

Hello, friends!

Let me tell you about the local bonsai exhibition held in my hometown Suginami,Tokyo in September.

It is a small local event, however I believe it is one of the most splendid bonsai exhibitions in Japan.

Almost all of the trees displayed here are great masterpieces that are displayed at the famous bonsai exhibition such as “Kokufu-ten” or “Taikan-ten” in Japan.

The exhibition has been held on the day of the Shrine "Ogikubo Hachiman's” festival every September for 46 years. The festival, will be the 47^th in this year, is held over a 2 day-period (12 and 13, September).

Every bonsai tree displayed at the festival belongs to local bonsai enthusiasts who live around the shrine. All the trees are absolutely fabulous and really worth seeing. They are very well cared for by bonsai artists.

If you are interested in bonsai or Japanese art, and are fortunate to be staying in Tokyo this September, I would strongly advise you to see this exhibition.The admission is free.

If you came to see the shrine after dark, you would enjoy fantastic scene with the light of the garden lanterns.

I will be at the reception all days and look forward to seeing you!

If you ever get a chance to attend then the directions are as follows;

At the front gate of the Shrine is the festival, you will see a lot of food stands along the entrance path to the main shrine. Go ahead along the path and you will reach the main gate. Pass through the gate and turn to the right, you will enjoy the beautiful corridor displayed with many bonsai.

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Dates :  12 and 13, September

OpenTime:   9:00~20:00

Place:   The Shinto shrine “Ogikubo Hachiman”

  4-19-2 Kamiogi, Suginami-ku, Tokyo

Access:  15~20 minutes on foot from JR Ogikubo station

http://www.amy.hi-ho.ne.jp/ogikubo-hachiman/page009.html

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https://www.facebook.com/events/980759601946028/

The Nor play is performed on outdoor stage at the shrine every year.

The most interesting point of this Shinsya glaze pot

Tokoname fkower shape bonsai pot in Shinshya glaze bu Shuuhou

This beautiful pot was made by the potter, Hidemi Kataoka/Shuuhou of Tokoname. Tokoname is one of the oldest 4 kilns in Japan and is known as a production center of the ceramic ware, especially the bonsai pot.
Shuuhou is Hidemi's professional name as a potter.


The red color of this pot looks very beautiful and interesting.
This glaze is called “Shinsya” in Japanese and is one of the representative glazes used to produce a pot in Japan.


On the front side of this pot, the Shinsya glaze creates a beautiful contrast between the pale white and reddish black. The potter, Hidemi, says that this glaze creates a drastic change in color depending on the firing.
On the other side of the pot, the glaze is bright red.
I think that’s the most interesting point and the charm of this pot.

It was purchased by someone who lives in southern island and left Japan last week. I heard it would be going to be a gift for someone's father. I would be glad if he could like the gift.


If it were mine, I would plant an Ume tree, a rose or a wisteria tree in the pot. I believe they would go well with the pot. As the Shinsya glaze would help to bring out the white or purple flowers.

What kind of tree would you put into this pot?

Thank you for reading this blog post.

盆栽の鉢が好きだ～！ 理由その①

こんにちは。盆栽の鉢が好きなYUKIMONOです。

さて、この写真。
アメリカ中西部にお住まいの女性（仮にKさん）が私に送ってくださったものです。
多肉植物の寄せ植え、素敵ですよね。
植え込まれている黄色い鉢は、私がKさんに送った常滑の盆栽鉢です。


Kさん、この黄色い鉢を、YUKIMONOが運営するオンラインストアから購入くださいました。
黄色い星型の洋風モダンな鉢に見えますが、
実はこれ、「古鏡型」という伝統的な形のミニ盆栽鉢です。
多肉植物にとても合っていて、アメリカのお部屋の背景とも馴染んでますよね。

わたし、この写真を見てうなりました。
そして思いました。


そう、これ！
私が盆栽の鉢が好きな理由は、これ！だって。


どういうことかというと――



植物と鉢を組み合わせるのって、楽しいよね
少しこだわって素敵な鉢を選ぶと、とてもかっこよく見えるよね。
それは、あなたがつくるオリジナルな作品
だから、植物が愛おしくなり、もっと育てていたくなる――


わたし、こんなことをいつも思っています。
そして、この楽しさを伝えたいと思っています。


で、盆栽鉢。

盆栽のために作り手が丹精した鉢は、
そのもののカタチや色が美しいだけでなく、
植物の美しさを引き立てる、植物と調和する力があると思うのです。

だから植物とも組み合わせやすいんですね。


植えるものは、何だってよいのです。
盆栽の鉢だからって、盆栽ふうにしなくてもよい。
ガーデニングセンターで売っている花の苗木、
庭に生えている雑草、
多肉やサボテン。
もちろん、盆栽もどーぞ。


あなたが住んでいる気候風土の中で育つ、
あなたにとっての身近な植物。
そこに、ちょっと素敵な盆栽鉢を組み合わせてみる。
それで、あなた流に楽しめるってことが幸せだと思うのです。


写真を送ってくださったアメリカのKさんは、
黄色い鉢を初めて見たとき「あ、ステキ」と思われ、
Kさんなりの寄せ植えイメージを抱かれたようです。


Kさんは、黄色い鉢を受け取られたあと、
何度も盆栽鉢をリピート購入してくださいました。

「いや～、あたし盆栽は知らないのよ～、ごめんね～」

とメッセージ添えながら。


Kさんが選んでくださったのはどれも、伝統的な、いわゆる盆栽鉢らしいカタチの鉢でした。
おそらくKさんは、選んだ鉢に自分なりの植え込みイメージを描いていたと思います。


「多肉を植えたら、また写真を送るから～」


うわっ、楽しみ！
Kさん、盆栽の鉢をどんなふうに活かして、Kさんらしい美しい植え込み作品に仕上げてくれるかな。


素敵な鉢がある。
あ、なんか植えてみたい。
こんな組み合わせ、どうだろう？

そんなふうに、盆栽の鉢を見て楽しんでくれる人が
世界にもいるんだってことを、
もとい、盆栽の鉢によってあなた流の楽しみができるんだってことを、
Kさんの写真は、あらためて教えてくれましたよー。


Bravo Bonsai Pot!

読んでくださって、ありがとうございます。最後にみなさまに、猛暑お見舞い！

Kさんの黄色鉢と同型の色違いです。

You can see the price in Euro and your country's monetary unit!

Hello, I am Yuki, an owner of Japanese beautiful bonsai pots store YUKIMONO.
We are offering high quality handmade bonsai pots including Tokoname bonsai pottery.
If you visited YUKIMONO store, thank you very much. 　


As you may know, the price of the pot in YUKIMONO has been displayed in US dollars.

Recently our store was upgraded with new functions.
You can check the price in your country's monetary unit.

If you want to know the price in Euro, you can change to display it in Euro.
If you live in Australia and want to check the price in Australian dollar, you can do it.

How should I change it?  

It is very easy to display the monetary unit in your country.　The way is as follows.

1. Click "Price Display Change." 

2. You now see like this.

3. Select the country.

   Foe example, I select Italy to display the price in Euro. 

4. You select Italy and Euro is displayed.

5. Click "Confirm."

6. It should look like this. An Italian national flag icon is displayed.

7. And the price is displayed in Euro.

8. You go to "Add to Cart" page and you see like this.

   The price in Euro is displayed under the price in US dollar.

Please check it out in your country's monetary unit.

For example....

Australian dollar.

 Vietnamese Dong.

Argentine Pesos.

Please Pay Attention.

The payment is carried out in US dollars. 

The price in each country's monetary unit is just displayed as an aim.

If you want to more,  please contact us.  

Thank you for reading YUKIMONO blog post!