Page 25 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2013Q4

A Conversation with

Takeo Kawabe Text by Kath Hughes, UK

Sunday, 23 September, 2012. Photos courtesy Malcolm Hughes
rd
and Takeo Kawabe.

r. Kawabe very generously gave nearly three
hours of his time to talk to a small group of
Mdedicated bonsai enthusiasts present at an
event at which he was headline demonstrator, namely
the 2012 Crespi Cup event at Parabiago near Milan.
He made these observations at his own request to this
small group with Nobuyuki Kagiwara acting as inter-
preter.
Nobu Kagiwara introduced Mr. Kawabe and began by
commenting on the Chinese juniper that he had been
demonstrating on earlier during the event and would
be continuing to work on later that day. The tree, cre-
ated by Mr. Kawabe 30 years ago, had been collected
from the region of Japan since devastated by the tsu-
nami of 2011. The devastation was such that most of
the trees from that area that have survived now only
exist as bonsai.
Mr. Kawabe has many hundreds of bonsai, mainly ju- This very personalized view of an approach to bonsai
nipers, at his nursery. When working on bonsai he has
four important rules that he adheres to: provided this small and select audience a fascinating
1. Thorough observation of the tree. insight into the mind of one of Japan’s leading bonsai
2. Identify what needs to be done at the early stage masters.
of working on the material.
3. Decide what should not be done at this time. There still remain elements within the bonsai world
who expect a tree to be completed during the course
4. Recognise what the tree could be if it were left of a single demonstration.
to live its own life i.e. the tree knows best.
He does however, receive considerable support from
From an understanding and with this knowledge, one those who witness his demonstrations and compre-
can appreciate the most important principles of work- hend his reasons for not taking a tree through to
ing with bonsai. completion during a single working session. At such a
It is always preferable to leave a tree unfinished when demonstration, he does only what he considers is right
carrying out a demonstration if it is detrimental to for the tree. Hence the tree is often left incomplete un-
the tree if the demonstration is taken to completion. less the work being carried out is the final refinement
following previous sessions.

October/November/December 2013 | BCI | 23