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2011 ASPAC Conference in Takamatsu, Japan

In mid November, Thor and I travelled to Japan with Bill Valavanis and Kora Dalager on their 2011 ASPAC Bonsai Tour to attend the 11th Asia - Pacific Bonsai and Suiseki Convention (ASPAC), the first to be held in Japan in its 23 year history,  and the 31st Nippon Bonsai Exhibition (Taiken-Ten) in Kyoto. The tour also included a visit to Omiya, the bonsai village outside Tokyo, visitng some of the best known nurseries and the newly  opened Omiya  Bonsai Art Museum,  featuring bonsai from the famous Takagi Bonsai  Collection. Thor was able to use the opportunity provided by the tour to interview some of the leading Japanese bonsai masters and their well-known international apprentices.

Takamatsu proved to be a very interesting host city, being the capital city of Kagawa prefecture. Situated on the Seto Inland Sea, Takamatsu is the gateway to Shikoku Island, where 80% of the bonsai pine stock in Japan is grown. The conference market certainly provided a lot of the spectacle, with one 300 year-old white pine selling for 100 million yen (about AUD$1.25 million) on the morning of the first day of the Conference (see below). During the five days in Takamatsu, we not only attended the conference but also had the opportunity to view the Imperial Bonsai Collection, which was temporarily housed in the historic Tamamo Park, site of the Yakamatsu Castle. We also visited the impressive Ritsurin Garden's and Daizo Iwasaki's famous bonsai collection and gardens.

     Takamatsu Sunport Convention Centre

                       Takamatsu Exhibition

                  $1.25 Million Dollar Bonsai

We then made a lightning trip to Tokyo, where we visited the nurseries of and met with Kumio Kobayashi, Masahiko Kimura, Tomio and Kaori Yamada, Hiroshi Takeyama and Seiji Morimae, the vendor of the above-mentioned white pine. We also visited the nurseries of Saburō Katō, now run by his son, and Kyuzo Murata.

                ASPAC Bonsai Tour Group

                              S-Cube Nursery near Tokyo

The Taikan-Ten in Kyoto coincided with the height of the autumn colour, with all the temple and castle sites bristling with enthusiastic tourists from all over Japan. We had a good deal of time to tour around Kyoto with all the "musn't miss" sites included in the tour as well as our participation at the exhibition, held at the Handicrafts Museum. Both the exhibition and market area were significantly larger than the ASPAC Convention as Taiken-Ten is one of the two most important exhibitions held each year in Japan. The exhibition was very impressive - unfortunately, we were only allowed to take photos of the market area, which was impressive in its own right. There were many bonsai, as in Takamatsu, selling for hundreds of thousans of dollars and the pots were fabulous. Fortunately, Australian Quarantine and airline weight limits kept a reign on the spending!

              Bonsai Pots for Sale in Tokoname

                    Tokoname Pottery Master

Whilst in Kyoto, we took a day trip to Tokoname, one of Japan's most important ceramic centres and home to its most famous living bonsai pot master, Gyouzan. It was an excellent opportunity to visit some of the key studios and watch the masters at work. Back in Kyoto, we had time to visit the famous covered markets and the picturesque Gion district.

                                                Gion - Kyoto

                              Nishiki Markets - Kyoto

The trip provided an incredible opportunity for Thor to advance his PhD research with unique access to thesome of the leading names in bonsai from around the world. He's looking forward to further field work in 2012, travelling to major exhibitions and bonsai centres in Europe, America and Japan - hopefully with his trusted research assistant!

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