The Legend that is Kimura

This morning we were on the bus by 8:30 in order to drive an hour to visit Masahiko Kimura's garden. We were excited to visit this garden most of all as we had spent the greater part of our bonsai studies hearing about him and his garden and seeing pictures of his famous groundbreaking trees.

Although early in his career his techniques were controversial, his success quickly gained him respect. And now in his eighties he is the unofficial "boss" of everyone. On the bus, Bjorn prepped us not to go into the workshop or behind his house and that we would only be staying an hour or so, so as not to overstay our welcome. The warning did not come as a surprise as Kimura's somewhat tyrannical reputation was well known.

When we arrived, I made a beeline to one of his most famous trees and my favorite, the Flying Dragon. It was even more stunning in person.

Flying Dragon


And here is a closer look at the single live vein and the twisting deadwood.


This was the other famous composition that I was eager to see in person, a forest planting of hinoki cypress on two interlocking pieces of slate and shinpaku juniper below.


Here Kimura was explaining that he had developed a method of creating stone towers that were durable yet light. With these, he would create stone plantings, like the one below. 


He went on to advise us to get regular checkups and stay healthy so you can take care of your trees, LOL. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised at how cordial and accommodating he was to our group. On the bus trip back, Bjorn told us that Kimura was in a good mood which made our visit extra special.

Here are a few more of his incredible trees.








The visit to Kimura's garden was the main reason we signed up for the tour in the first place and was definitely the highlight. 

On the ride back we realized we were going to be hard-pressed for time at the Kokufu Part 2 so we made the decision to snack in lieu of a sit down lunch. We were grateful we did, as in our opinion, Part 2 was better than Part 1.

In fact, after looking at all the pictures, I've decided to split this day into two blog posts. I apologize to my non-bonsai followers for all the tree pics, but it just can't be helped.

A dopo!


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