Page 50 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2014Q3

Left column, top to bottom;
Taiga Urushibata working
on a Japanese White Pine at
Taisho-en.
Tomohiro Masami at Koju-en.
Ritta with Kaori Yamada,
Seiko-en.
Making of a Yamaaki pot,
Tokoname.
Mansai-en in Omiya village.

Right column, top to bottom;
Japanese garden at Isawa
Onsen.
Water feature at Shinji-Suzuki’s
garden.

that importing koi from Japan is quite different from
importing bonsai where the regulations and legal
requirements are complicated. Buying koi directly
from Japan is relatively common for hobbyists who
travel with koi dealers from the UK. Importing bonsai
however, is a costly and complex process, especially
while ensuring plant health and phytosanitation re-
quirements are adhered to, not to mention quarantine
requirements both for the exporter and importer.
Bonsai enthusiasts visiting Japan rapidly discover
that one of the most frustrating things is the inability
to personally buy and take home a bonsai without the
involvement of professionals and observing the cor-
rect processes, all of which are costly. Most of Mark
and Ritta’s trees have been purchased in the UK or Eu-
rope from bonsai dealers who import, and one or two
of their trees have been personal selected by them in
Japan and imported via UK dealers. Frequently hob-
byists who visit Japan don’t realize that most Japanese
bonsai nurseries are not authorized to export bonsai.
On their 2012 trip, they visited Fujikawa-san’s nurs-
ery Kouka-en near Osaka; they had admired his trees
for sale and on exhibition for many years, and had
spoken with his students studying with him, most
particularly, Bjorn Bjorholm. As they rarely visited
Osaka they had not thought to visit before, but in
2011, Fujikawa-san invited them, and arrangements
were made for the visit. They were hugely impressed
with what they saw and by the welcome they received.
It was at a Taikan-ten exhibition some years ear-
lier that they first met Mike and Amy Blanton from

48 | BCI | July/August/September 2014