Page 21 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2015Q1

is at any given time). This was difficult to adjust to at
first, but now if I have a day off from working, I don’t
really know what to do with myself.

The nursery switched to bonsai when they became
popular in the seventies. Do you know what caused
bonsai’s popularity at that time?
Following World War II, Japan’s economy was in
shambles, having been decimated by years of war
and a limited focus on domestic economic growth.
In the years following WWII, however, the Japanese
economy began to rebound, and by the 1980s Japan
had shot to number two on the global economic
scale, just behind the US. It was this period of rapid
expansion and wide open markets in the years
between WWII and the late 1980s that produced an
environment conducive to the boom and success of
bonsai art. In the 1960s, there was huge growth in the
use of Satsuki Azaleas for bonsai-like culture across
Japan. This was due, in large part, to the availability
of new roads and infrastructure that made it possible
to move old, large Satsuki material from southern
Kyushu to the Kansai (Osaka) and Kanto (Tokyo)
areas with relative ease. As the azalea market became
saturated in 1970s, many nurseries shifted focus to
developing bonsai. This move to bonsai was really,
very simply, economically motivated. Not only
were prices of azaleas declining rapidly in the ’70s,
but the average disposable income in Japan was
also increasing at the time, and nurserymen saw an
opportunity to become successful in the niche bonsai
market. This economic motivation is also why we see
a rapid increase in the quality of bonsai (i.e. product
differentiation) during the ’70s and ’80s.

The majority of the apprentices in the film are not
Japanese nationals. Is this typical or unique to this
nursery?
Continuum was filmed at Kouka-en nursery, which
has a rather large number of foreign apprentices
and students. When I first arrived as an apprentice
at Kouka-en in 2008, I was in fact the only student
at the nursery. It wasn’t until 2010 that a second ap-
prentice arrived (Naoki Maeoka from Japan). In the
years since, we have had apprentices from the US
(Owen Reich), Mexico (David Martinez), Switzerland
(Dario Mader), and Japan (Yuri Hayama). Addition-
ally, Fujikawa-san and I cofounded the Fujikawa In- What created the need for additional apprentices? Top; Nursery stock is evaluated
ternational School of Bonsai in 2011, which provides When Fujikawa-san took over Kouka-en from his fa- and prepared for sale at
short-term programs to foreign students. In the past ther in the early ’90s, he ran the nursery completely on Kokufu-ten, Japan’s National
three years, we’ve had students from all over the world his own (which absolutely amazes me, as it seems like Bonsai Exhibition.
attend programs of various lengths and focus. I would there’s never a shortage of work, even with our current Middle; Trees in the cascade
say, though, that the model of Kouka-en is rapidly be- line-up of 4 apprentices to manage all of the tasks!). style are secured for transport
to Kokufu-ten.
coming the “norm” in Japan, as most nurseries seem In the ’90s, Fujikawa-san focused mainly on boarding Bottom; The Ueno Green Club
to have at least a few foreign apprentices. This is not and developing high-end client-owned material. This Vendor area at Kokufu-ten.
only great for international publicity for those nurser- was a lucrative model at the time, because clients were
ies that host foreign students, but it’s also great for the regularly spending five and six figures on material that
apprentices, as we have an international ready-made required professional maintenance. Today, however,
network of friends to bounce ideas off of and get sup- with the poor state of the economy, folks are buying
port from in adjusting to life in Japan. cheaper bonsai that they feel comfortable caring for

January/February/March 2015 | BCI | 19