FIRST NIPPON SUISEKI EXHIBITION

Bill Valavanis reports that Nippon Suiseki Association will organize a new "Suiseki of Japan Exhibition" alongside the second part of the coming year's Kokufuten (Japan's premier bonsai exhibition) on February 9-12, 2014 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum.  During the Kokufuten, vendor sales at the  Green Club, which is within walking distance,  have provided one of the best annual opportunities to purchase Japanese suiseki & related material for their display.

http://valavanisbonsaiblog.com/2013/10/11/announcing-the-2o14-88th-kokufu-ten-bonsai-exhibition/ wrote:In June 2013, the Nippon Suiseki Association was reorganized with Kunio Kobayashi as Chairman and Seiji Morimae as the Secretary General. In February the organization will be staging an exhibition of over 100 fine-quality Japanese suiseki during the second part of the Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition. Many historic and famous stones, rarely seen outside temples and shrines will be on display including a stone from the Tokugawa Shognate Collection.

With over 100 fine stones, Bill notes this will be the largest stone exhibition ever held in Japan and the first stone exhibit held in the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum.

Hearty congratulations to my bonsai & suiseki teacher Kunio Kobayashi and to Seiji Morimae in attaining the Chairman & Secretary General positions of the reorganized Nippon Suiseki Association.

Thanks for sharing, Bill!  I'm definitely eying the travel opportunity that you & Kora Dalager provide to see Japan in February (3rd-10th).

The FIRST "Nippon Suiseki Exhibition" sponsored by the newly reorganized Nippon Suiseki Association will be held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art. Museum on February 9-13, 2014

Kunio Kobayashi the new president of the Nippon Suiseki Assoiation and is assisted by Seiji Morimae. That's exciting news. This will be the largest suiseki exhibition and the first in the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, held during part 2 of this year's Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition. They will have approximately 200 susiseki on display and about 25 tokonoma display as well. Many of the most famous suiseki in Japan will be exhibited.

Sean Smith, Ron Maggio and I will each have a JAPANESE suiseki displayed. An exhibition book should be available during the exhibit. I'm excited, not because I'm an exhibitor, but because of the new blood in the Japanese suiseki community. Having a suiseki exhibition in the museum is a first and will help to promote and give the recognition the art needs and deserves.

I have a poster but don't know how to attach it. I can't see the control box which used to be there. Help!

I was just informed that PHOTOGRAPHY will NOT BE ALLOWED in the exhibition. Also the Tokugawa Shogunate does not exist so a stone will not be included. Sorry about that, I was just passing on what I was told. It will still be a great show!

Also, I'll be picking up few extra Commemorative Albums to carry home next week. They are $40 plus $5 for USA shipping. E-mail me for ordering. I don't think they are listed on my web site yet.
Bill
wnv@internationalbonsai.com

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good to know.....would to interested in learning how to get my hands on the commemorative book...for those going

Finally, I can attach a copy of the poster. By the way, Kunio Kobayashi is Chairman of the Nippon Suiseki Association, not the President.

I'll have the 200 odd page full color exhibition book for sale and ready for shipping from Rochester, NY on February 12th.

thanks Bill, enjoyed your last issue of Bonsai International, twin trunk and horticultural charcoal a very good read.....

There will now be closer to 200 suiseki plus 25 tokonoma displays of suiseki in this exhibition featuring many famous stones rarely seen by the public.

The commemorative exhibition book has about 200 full color pages of each displayed suiseki with English captions. I have the book for sale with delivery around February 15th.

I can't wait to see this premier event of the reorganized Nippon Suiseki Association. Four members of our Suiseki Study Group of Upstate New York will be in attendance and two of us are exhibitors.

Bill

I was told that photos would be allowed during the suiseki exhibition, and hope its true.

Look for photos of the stones in my blog during the second week of February at:

www.valavanisbonsaiblog.com

Hi Bill

This is amazing news, to be able to take my own photos of the details in the stones, and even more, the daizas that catch my eyes, is something I could only dream about...hope you are right....Now I look even more forward to the event...still I will be more than happy to buy the book, it is a must have.

Kind regards Yvonne

Please would it be possible to command you a book?

The new commemorative exhibition album from the "Suiseki of Japan Exhibition" is

232 pages, all color, English & Japanese text, 7 x 10"

The price is $40
US shipping $5
Foreign shipping $24

The book should be up in my web site soon, please check:
www.internationalbonsai.com

my purchase of the book and renewal of your most excellent magazine is in the post...

We will probably see some of the stones mentioned on this page   

http://www.suiseki-assn.gr.jp/en/intro.html

It dont look as this this page is being updated, but still very much worth seeing...is there a new page?

Kind regards Yvonne

Thanks Yvonne..for the Url.

A brief, incomplete history of the stone Kurokamiyama/"Black Hair Mountain" illustrated on the exhibit poster is noted on the IBC thread Asian Tradition in Stone Appreciation-an exhibit in Washington DC USA (linked HERE).  The stone's fitted daiza also has a fitted lacquered top creating a case & references a mountain (Mt. Nantai in the Nikko area), which are illustrated in the thread.  It is among those stones which readily draws on nature-represented (through literature & historical association) beyond simple comparison to a physical place.

Noted in the thread...

Chris wrote:On the eve of beginning the journey described in Basho's Narrow Road Into the Interior (early 1690s), his travelling companion Sora writes:
    I shave my head
    at Black Hair Mountain (Kurokamiyama)--
    time for summer clothes

Sora shaves his head, changes into the black robes of a priest and takes on Buddhist name.  He creates a literary/cultural memory for Mount Nantai (a.k.a. Kurokamiyama) & its important Shinto shrine precinct that resonates today...

I was just informed that PHOTOGRAPHY will NOT BE ALLOWED in the exhibition. Also the Tokugawa Shogunate does not exist so a stone will not be included. Sorry about that, I was just passing on what I was told. It will still be a great show!

Also, I'll be picking up few extra Commemorative Albums to carry home next week. They are $40 plus $5 for USA shipping. E-mail me for ordering. I don't think they are listed on my web site yet.
Bill
wnv@internationalbonsai.com

Hi Bill... Thanks for the update.  No allowance for photography is not a surprise-- especially with an exhibition book immediately available.   I understand that the Commemorative Album is translated by Wil (known for Matsuura's Introduction to Suiseki & California Aiseki Kai newsletter articles).  Seeing the exhibition-- especially an extraordinary suiseki exhibition on the same trip as a visit to the Kokufuten bonsai exhibition will be AMAZING.

Thanks, again, for sharing.

Hi Bill

Thank for the information about the no photograp....It was also too good to be true...but no matter what, will I look much forward to go back to Tokyo on thursday...right now am I in Kyoto...could not help it, Kamo is like a magnet to me...had to find a handfull stones, all lovely stones, one of them is quit big, and black.


Kind regards Yvonne

Today, the day before the big Suisekievent, have I bought the book in the Greenclub....Peter Warren is selling the book, 3000 yen....Also have I now, my very own poster 
I have enjoyed the book all afternoon..., we are having a heavy snowfall here in Tokyo, so it is nice with a GOOD book indoors, preparing for tomorrow.

Kind regards Yvonne 

The famous old big stone from the poster, has the big daiza, as it is a part of a very pretty box...the daiza has a lid....an interesting idea I like very much.

I came home with an invitation to exhibit next year...

It was nice to met Bill and hes group, and the exhibion it self, was VERY nice

Kind regards Yvonne

This bears repeating.  If you have interest in Japanese suiseki appreciation, you will want this exhibition catalog.  William (Bill) N. Valavanis has it for sale on his web site for $45 ($40 + $5 shipping)-- an excellent price.  From this source, international shipping is $24.  More info on the web site http://www.internationalbonsai.com/page/1442819.  The Valavanis blog (linked HERE) also gives a hint of the exhibition treasures, though the catalog's fine photos & text are SO MUCH better for appreciation.

In California, Tom Elias & Hiromi Nakaoji (VSANA) well as Larry & Nina Ragle (California Aiseki Kai) might have copies available for members of their organizations & stone friends.  I hope stone friends in other areas are helping distribute the catalogs-- as I hear of distributors I'll share.  They might also be ordered from Nippon Suiseki Association. A single copy to my address (Virginia USA) cost ~ $21.00 JUST for postage.  The Japan Suiseki Exhibition catalog  includes the Association's email address: info@suiseki-assn.gr.jp.  Let me know if other options do not work for you, as this well-priced catalog should drive conversation on Japanese suiseki practice in the future.

More in regard to text, photos and quality...

The 2014 Japan Suiseki Exhibition catalog documents an exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum-- the same venue at which the celebrated annual Kokufu bonsai exhibition is mounted.  The suiseki exhibit extended February 9-13, 2014.  Nippon Suiseki Association gathered an extraordinary number of stones including many of historical & aesthetic importance.  

All photos are in full color & impressive in size.  Each stone is given a near full-page photo in horizontal format on pages of a trade-paper cover catalog measuring ~11 3/4" x 8 1/4". There are 229 numbered pages!  Page size and quality is comparable to Taikanten (bonsai exhibition) catalogs without the fancier cloth hardcover &. slipcase.  In the highly praised Taikanten catalogs, most photos are only a half-page each in portrait/vertical orientation.  In the Japan Suiseki Exhibition catalog, pages read in landscape/horizontal orientation, which allows photos to extend to a generous 10"/25 cm. width.

For suiseki enthusiasts, comments on each stone from Seiji Morimae and translated into English by Wil (adapter//translator of Mr. Matsuura's Introduction to Suiseki text, as well) carry the experience of viewing to greater appreciation.  Comments contribute in sharing the feeling of a cultivated enthusiast in appreciation of each stone. Additionally, many comments tie individual suiseki to previous owners & their stands, suiban/doban and tenpai to famed craftsmen & traditions.
 
As well as brief comments on each stone, 28 suiseki are shown additionally on a separate facing full-page photo in an alcove with footed-stand and hanging scroll.   It is a great opportunity to review the choice & balance of suiseki in alcove display.  A few stones including the widely recognizable Kurokamiyama are covered in more detail with extra pages of text & photos.

Another nice photo essay/blog by Peter Warren (linked HERE) on the recent Japan Suiseki Exhibition.