The 3 Bonsai Pots for Autumn

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

Autumn is coming, in Japan and almost all countries in the temperate and subtropical northern hemisphere, it is the repotting season for some plants like those of the Rosaceae family, a rose, a Japanese quince and a pyracantha. So today, I will introduce some glazed bonsai pots that would match beautifully with plants especially in autumn.

The new Oribe glaze 2015

This rectangle bonsai pot was fired last July by the Tokoname potter, Hidemi kataoka. I heard from him that the pot is covered with 3 glazes, light green, yellow and blue. That’s why the Oribe (green) glaze of the pot looks beautiful with such a depth of color and such glaze brings out the red flowers of a Japanese quince, the little red fruits of a pyracantha and the bright pink flowers of a camellia.

The shining brown color in Aventurine glaze

I think this Aventurine glazed pot is one of Hidemi’s representative works. The many iridescent small crystals shining in the brown glaze are really beautiful. They remind me of the gold color of the autumn evening with a gorgeous sunset. If plants such as a bush clover, a Japanese Beautyberry (Callicarpa japonica) and a Chinese Bellflower were potted in the glazed pot, they would show the colors of their flowers or fruits most beautifully.

The rectangle bonsai pot with blue and green glaze

This pot is absolutely one of masterpieces made by the Tokoname potter, Koyo. The flowing pattern with the blue and green glaze on the side of the pot makes me imagine a deep ravine in the middle of a mountain. The glaze will bring out the maple leaves turning red very well.

By the way, I know it is spring, and the repotting season now in Australia, South-Africa and many other countries of the southern hemisphere.

If you are interested in these bonsai pots, please have a look here.

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A good out of the way bonsai spot, Takao Komagino Garden in Tokyo

Hello, I am Yuki, an owner of the Japanese bonsai pots online store YUKIMONO.
Today I'll tell you about a great bonsai spot, Takao Komagino Garden in Tokyo.

Takao Komagino garden located in Hachioji, in the west side of Tokyo, is one of the real traditional Japanese gardens where anyone can visit to relax and enjoy the beautiful view of plants with free of charge.

There is a very old two storied Japanese-style house in the garden. According to the website, it used to be a doctor’s residence and hospital, which was built in 1927. The house and its large yard were presented by the owner to Hachioji city in 2009. They were repaired and reborn as part of this beautiful public park in April, 2012.

There are a lot of highlights in the garden such as various kinds of flowering trees, a lotus pond, a dry landscape garden and an old Japanese-style house…...
One of my favorite things there are the gorgeous bonsai of which there are more than 15. Not only outside, but also inside the Japanese house, you can see some small bonsai put in the living room, guest room or hallway.

I go to the garden once a month to learn more about bonsai. When I visited there for the first time, I was very impressed and thought it was the perfect place to study bonsai.
My bonsai teacher has taken care of all bonsai in the garden since it opened. He has also displayed small bonsai every week in the Japanese house. Sometimes, I am able to learn the traditional room display style of bonsai from him.

If you are interested in bonsai or Japanese gardens, I highly recommend you come to Takao Komagino garden. It takes about 45~60 minutes by train from the center of Tokyo to Takao, the closest railway station, and 15 minutes on foot from Takao station.
http://www.takaokomaginoteien.jp/access.html

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5 trees that were very impressive at the bonsai exhibition "Ogikubo Hachiman 2015"

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

As I informed before, the bonsai exhibition at the shrine “Ogikubo Hachiman” 2015, was held on September 12 and 13. I went to the place the day before the opening day, and helped to prepare for the exhibition as one of exhibitors and an operating supporter. The day after the last day, I joined as a member of a team the putting bonsai in order.

For these four days, it was really splendid and I have had a lot of fun with some great bonsai artists, local celebrities and my friends.

Though all bonsai displayed at this exhibition were beautiful, I will introduce some of my favorites.

・Shinichi Nakajima's Dignity and Grace

The first is a large Shimpaku done by the bonsai artist, Shinichi Nakajima. I think it has a beautiful form with the characteristic of dignity and grace. It is not a showy work, but I never get tired of looking at this tree.

・fern-ball white pine

The second tree, also Nakajima’s work, is very interesting. It is a white pine the root of which is completely covered with a kind of fern (Lemmaphyllum microphyllum). Nakajima-san said “keep it without repotting, and it will become like this.”

・fabulous combination with the tree and the pot

The third is a Sabia japonica with beautiful blue fruits. What a fabulous combination with the tree and the blue glazed Tokoname bonsai pot! It was the bonsai that Nakajima-san did for me as a work for display.

・the view of natural willow on the riverside

The fourth is a very lovely willow tree done by the bonsai artist, Toshio Ogawa. This work easily makes us imagine the view of natural willow trees on the riverside.

・the small oak with pretty acorns. 

The last is a small Japanese oak directed by the bonsai artist, Takeharu Nakagawa. The pot planted the tree has some colors (blue, red and green) and very unique shape. I think it is very difficult to match such a pot with a tree, however, the pot goes very well with the small oak with pretty acorns. 

The bonsai exhibition  at the shrine “Ogikubo Hachiman”2016 will be held on September 11 and 12, 2016. See you again!

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The reason you should have the demon bonsai pot

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

When I saw theses pots for the first time, I thought the bonsai potter, Hidemi (Shuuhou), made it just as a joke. As far as I know, he thinks a great deal of the beauty of the harmony with plants when he makes bonsai pots, however, his new work, the demon face feet bonsai pot, has strong power from the design itself. I think it might be tough to suitably match such a pot with plants.

●The motif of demon was standard

He said an idea flashed across his mind when he was trying to make new shape feet for the pot. Though he has made some type of feet for pots with animal face designs like an owl or a pig, he thought they were too adorable for bonsai pots. 

“I wanted to try to make something new but not unusual,” he said and continued “It was the first time for me to make the demon face feet, but the motif of it was very standard. The demon face bonsai pots have been made by many potters since so many years ago.”

●Demon faces will prevent evil from harming plants!?

The demon, called “Oni” in Japanese, is presumed something wicked, but actually has been seen as a symbol of keeping out of harm’s way. You will see an Oni face on a decorative ridge-end tile in Japan. Hidemi said that he made the demon face referring to a picture of the decorative ridge-end tile, so the demon face pot will prevent something evil like harmful insects or illnesses from harming plants.

●Would you put a plant into the demon pot?

Contrary to expectations, the demon face bonsai pots are popular among bonsai enthusiasts, especially young or creative people. They look like they enjoy thinking what kind of tree to put into the pot. On the other hand, I heard that some people think the pots are ugly, the faces are too big so that the balance is lost.

How about you? Do you like the demon face bonsai pot?

If you are interested in demon face bonsai pots, please have a look here.

Thank you for reading YUKIMONO blog post.

How was the gardening of old Japanese people?

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

Today, let me tell you about the book “The gardening of Edo” which is one of my favorite books.

It tells us of the gardening culture of ordinary Japanese people in the Edo period (1600-1868) with a lot of Japanese woodblock prints. 

In the Edo period, especially in the middle, though late Edo period, gardening was much more popular than it is now in Japan.

You can see how they appreciated plants (not bonsai) in a pot, what kind of plants they loved and what type of pots they used through the many beautiful woodblock prints.

Though it is generally written in the book that Japanese people have been close to Bonsai for a long time, actually it was in the late Edo period(1800~) and Meiji period (1868~) that Bonsai spread to the common people.

Almost all Japanese people just loved their own potted plants in pots.

According to this book, Japanese people in the Edo period were crazy about the Cycad and Japanese rhodeaand, but I can't understand why they loved such plants so much.

I wish I could explain about the articles in this book in English because the custom and the taste of people in the late Edo period, as written in this book, were very interesting.

There are very small captions in English beside a subheading of a paragraph so that you will enjoy this book even if you don't know Japanese. 

If you are interested in this book and want it, please contact me. I have two books.

Thank you for reading YUKIMONO blog post! 

The hot springs around Tokyo bonsai enthusiasts should visit

The open-air   hot spring in Nikko-tei,Atami

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

Few days ago I saw an interesting article written about a ranking of hot springs most popular with overseas tourists in 2015, by Rakuten Travel. So I will also write about hot springs that foreign bonsai enthusiasts should visit after being inspired by the article. You can go to all these places by public transportation from Tokyo in a day.

1 Atami Onsen (Nikko-tei Ooyu　熱海　日航亭)

Atami, the seaside town in Shizuoka prefecture, is one of the most famous hot spring resorts in Japan. The open-air   hot spring in Nikko-tei is really wonderful. The hot water smells very nice, it is redolent of the sea and cypress trees around there. The Shinto shrine “Kinomiya jinjya（来宮神社）” which is famous for a huge camphor tree estimated to be over 2000 years old, is located near. You can appreciate both the hot spring and the great old tree in Atami.

2 Ikaho Onsen (Ikaho Roten Buro　伊香保　露天風呂）

Ikaho in Gunma prefecture is a place you should visit, especially in autumn. There are a lot of maple trees around Ikaho and you can enjoy the autumn red leaves while soaking in the open-air hot spring. You can also enjoy the atmosphere of an old Japanese hot spring resort. 

3 Ajigaura Onsen (Nozomi)　阿字ヶ浦　

Ajigaura, located on the east coast of Ibaragi prefecture is not really a famous place for hot springs because there is only one hot spring. However the evergreen forest, in the precincts of the very old Shinto shrine “Sakatsura-isosaki-jinjya (酒列磯前神社),” which was designated a natural monument by Ibaragi prefecture, is remarkable and well worth seeing for bonsai enthusiasts. After enjoying the views, soaking in the quiet hot spring with a few local people should be enjoyable for you.

If its your first time in Japan, but you are not so interested in bonsai or trees, you should take note of the article.

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Making kokedama in an elementary school

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

Last year, an art teacher who works in an elementary school in Suginami, Tokyo where I live, told me that she wondered if she could teach children Kokedama and exhibit their works at the school art festival held in February, 2015.

Kokedama is the moss ball that the root of a plant is covered with (green moss), and seen as one of the bonsai styles.

 She told me that she had never done ‘Kokedam’ but would like to try doing it, and asked me if I could help her as she had no idea how to get hold of the materials.

I told her that I would do it with pleasure. I was excited because making Kokedama would be first trial at an elementary school in Suginami. Her effort to challenge the students with a new thing was impressive. Japanese elementary school teachers are so busy these days that they can’t afford to introduce new challenges.

I laid in a stock of many young pine trees, accent plants, moss and soil from a bonsai nursery as cheaply as possible, and delivered them to her art class last January. I also advised her how to make Kokedama and how to keep or water these plants so they could  survive until the exhibition.

She sent me some pictures of the children’s Kokedama after the art school festival. She told that her kokedama project was successful, the children enjoyed making Kokedama and their works gave attendees including their parents much pleasure at the school art festival.

All of the Kokedama in the pictures were put on very creative ceramic plates made by the children. Their kokedama harmonized with their ceramic work, and the result was some splendid original art work, more so than I expected.

How creative children are!

She decided to teach Kokedama again this year and I am very glad to be able to help her once more.

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