Bonsai Today

Online magazine for Bonsai lovers

itoigawa

Grafting

The last Giant

Taking a mega juniper from raw material to masterpiece bonsai
Mr Hirokatsu Iura and his son Takashi Iura took quite a risk in creating a marvellous juniper of amazing proportions.


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Gallery

A Bonsai paradise

A selection of the amazing bonsai from the Bonsai San show in France


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Profile

My victory

The bonsai passion of Alfredo Salaccione.


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Technique

Bjorn’s approach

Bjorn Bjorholm demonstrates scion grafting for foliage replacement of junipers.


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Shohin

Winning touches

Morten Albek takes time to go through some of the shohin displays at the Nöelanders Trophy.


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Styling

Is it just one blob of green?

Manuel Germade re-styles an Itoigawa juniper This very compact juniper, grafted with Itoigawa foliage, has grown out of proportion. The shape of the trunk with its deadwood is very attractive. The main task for Manuel Germade is to discover the best front and to split up the dense foliage dome…...


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Shohin

Regular fit

Alexsandre Escudero works on a tiny Itoigawa juniper An average juniper can be changed into something interesting, you just need to have a vision and opt for doing something different to make it less regular. The tree I will work with is very commonly seen as bonsai, a purpose-grown juniper…...


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Masterclass

No bonsai stays the same

Working on a very ancient and treasured juniper, Chiharu Imai realises that no bonsai stays the same and so he respectfully gives the tree a new shape for the future.


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Profile

Small imperfections

The bonsai passion of Francesco Santini Francesco learned bonsai from an early age. He has a veryoutspoken approach to bonsai and that’s not only about the material side of things What was your training? I’ve been studying for years to graduate in economy, working at the same time as an…...


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Gallery

Gallery

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Gallery

Made in Europe

A Gallery of the best bonsai shown during the Italian UBI convention


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Gallery

Best of show

The 6th European Bonsai-san Show. A selection of the best bonsai


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Report

Why sharing?

Sharing was the theme at the 13th edition of the International Bonsai & Suiseki event or, in short, the Crespi Cup. The International bonsai & Suiseki meeting has become one of the most important and prestigious events in the world of bonsai, initiated by Crespi Bonsai. The development over the…...


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Gallery

Charity bonsai

On the 22, 23 and 24 November 2019, the 3rd Bonsai Charity Exhibition, organized by the Club Amigos del Bonsai de Parla, was held in Parla, Madrid. As you see in the photographs, we exhibited trees of the highest quality from members of the club, amateurs and professionals.The money raised…...


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Little Kokufu

A ‘small’ show with large impact The II UBE Bonsai Exhibition was held at the famous venue of the Royal Site of Aranjuez, near Madrid, on 24 to 26 January last and it was officially opened by his Excellency the Ambassador of Japan together with the city’s Mayor This edition…...


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Tables

My mistakes are torched

The bonsai tables of Doug Mudd ‘The table should reflect the age of the bonsai,’ says perfectionist Doug who works on wood with the knowhow to create the best results. How did it all start? When I first became interested in bonsai, I was fortunate enough to be close to…...


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Styling

His father’s voice

Isao Omachi’s creates the bonsai his father envisioned Solving the problem with a new styling on a Juniper by turning the tree upside down using and making the most of the twist in the trunk with root grafting. Isao Omachi’s most well-known tree has a long and deep history, starting…...


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Bonsai on the red carpet

An impression of the Bonsai-san Show which was held in the weekend of 12 – 13 October 2019, Saulieu, France. Guest of Honour Mauro Stemberger. Demonstrations were held by Bjorn Bjorholm (USA), Jan Culek (CZ) and Mauro Stemberger (IT). The show was held in the fantastic venue in Saulieu, which…...


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Profile

Forced to find solutions

The only regret Manuel Germade has is the fact that he did not go to Japan much earlier. A couple of years ago he officially graduated as a bonsai Master and he now finds his way in the West exhibiting and sharing his knowledge. What was your professional education? I…...


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Shohin

The little gem

Reworking a small juniper Alexandre Escudero is crazy about shohin bonsai. At the nursery of his teacher Hiroyuki Tanibata, he found a little gem of a juniper. Let’s together find the beauty lost on this Juniperus itoigawa and discover step-by-step how to rework a shohin-sized tree. I bought this Juniperus…...


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Travel

Part-time ‘deshi’

Paolo Nastasi travelled to the land of the rising sun to deepen his knowledge Years ago there was no tradition of going to Japan to improve one’s knowledge. However, times have changed… Taisho-en, run by Masters Nobuichi Urushibata and his son Taiga, was one of the first to give foreign…...


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Propagating

The king’s new clothes

Juniper scion grafting for foliage replacement Changing the foliage of junipers is becoming more and more common in the bonsai scene. Mauro Stemberger talks about his juniper projects using scions or the so-called approach graft technique. Mostly a finer variety of juniper, like’Itoigawa” is used to improve the quality of…...


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Report

Northwest Rendezvous

The Bonsai Society of Portland and Pacific Northwest Bonsai Clubs Association presented the 2018 Northwest Bonsai Rendezvous this month in Milwaukie, Oregon. The event was a big success! Three days of workshops, critiques, and demonstrations made the time fly by. Just steps away, a high quality exhibition featured some of the region’s best…...


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Masterclass

A double life

A JUNIPER IS SPLIT UP TO CREATE TWO SEPARATE BONSAI Minoru Akiyama is well-known for his refined work. In summer 2017 he was invited by Frank Busch, of Bonsai Park Nursery, to carry out some workshops and to do a special demo with us on a very unusual juniper. Minoru…...


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Styling

Respect for an old juniper

Grace, elegance and style all come together in one tree What do you expect from a good juniper bonsai? Dynamism? Restlessness? Elegance? Style? But is this always so?  Antonio Gesualdi is going to prove that, by restoring an impressive Itoigawa juniper, a fine juniper can have all of this…   Here…...


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