Japan: Rare trees on display at exhibition
View Gallery (4 images)
It’s truly wondrous to see Nagahama bonbai — Japanese apricot bonsai trees — on display at the Keiunkan, a traditional Japanese-style building, during the Nagahama Bonbai Exhibition.
Nagahama city’s bonbai collection includes 40 donated by Shichizo Takayama (1839-1900), who found the trees in the mountains north of Lake Biwa and cultivated them with utmost care. He donated his collection to the city in 1951 to encourage people still suffering from the devastation of World War II. It has since increased to 300 trees under the careful cultivation of the city’s gardeners. This is the 61st exhibition.
About 90 bonbai out of the 300 are on display in stages through March 11, including an 8.85-foot-tall giant bonbai tree that is more than 400 years old. The exhibition is a rare opportunity to see a collection of bonbai whose variety cannot be duplicated in other parts of Japan.
I recommend that you visit the exhibition and see how perfectly the bonbai merge in spirit with the exhibit hall’s Japanese garden, especially when the garden is lit up from sunset to 8:30 p.m. If you attend the exhibit during the day, your ticket is also valid for a second visit later in the evening.
Each unique tree is planted in hand-thrown pots that are artistic works in their own right.
Nagahama city is 48 miles northeast of Kyoto. It is known for Nagahama Castle, built from 1575 to 1576 by warlord Hideyoshi Toyotomi, and the Keiunkan, a three-minute walk from JR Nagahama Station.
Nagahama city is about a 70-minute train ride from Kyoto or a nine-minute train ride (third stop) from JR Maibara Station on the Tokaido Line.
For a map and event details, go to www.tinyurl.com/74sodb5
