ASPAC Takamatsu Japan 2011 and BCI Tour

Rob and Bill thanks for taking the time to post here guys... great reports keep them coming

Yes thank you guys both so much for taking the time to give us daily updates: I almost feel like I'm there except I'm here and there's no sushi.
-Jay

Hi
Now that azalea of Doug Paul is a real tree.
Beautiful atmosphere.
Looking at the amazing 300 year old Miyajima pine i ask my self
could it do with some design work?
Now it looks well maintained and in reach of what is possible but a bit in between of two designs.
Allows the branch structure a more open canopy giving more power to the strong trunk movement
or is the traditional dome shape the better option here ?
I am curious on what one of the Japanese bonsai masters would do with it, anyway keep it healthy please?
Sunip

There were many bonsai and non-bonsai exhibits set up.
This is a sample of a large Calligraphy painting in the lobby of the convention center (about 3 meters across). The characters say Kibo or hope in English. In an exhibit room they had these large calligraphy paintings with very impressive bonsai in front of them. No photos were allowed but they reminded me of the photos of Walter Pall tree's in front of modern art. This was a very modern and impressive way to display bonsai. I will see if I can get a photo as it was great.



Interesting choice (Light Blue) for the Daifuchi of the Byoubu...With the dark base it looks very nice...even though I have never been a big fan of the huge characters drawn with mops....

Kakejiku wrote:There were many bonsai and non-bonsai exhibits set up.
This is a sample of a large Calligraphy painting in the lobby of the convention center (about 3 meters across). The characters say Kibo or hope in English. In an exhibit room they had these large calligraphy paintings with very impressive bonsai in front of them. No photos were allowed but they reminded me of the photos of Walter Pall tree's in front of modern art. This was a very modern and impressive way to display bonsai. I will see if I can get a photo as it was great.



Interesting choice (Light Blue) for the Daifuchi of the Byoubu...With the dark base it looks very nice...even though I have never been a big fan of the huge characters drawn with mops....

Kakejiku,

These large calligraphy paintings were made by a young lady with Downs Syndrome. She has a great spirit and an innate eye for these large works of art. It's encouraging how each human can find their own way to express themselves.

PS the image uploader is no longer working for me, keep getting an Internet error message can't find the web page for the hosting services. If anyone has any suggestions let me know. Meanwhile I will try again when at a different hotel.

Rob,
I can't help with the technical computer "stuff". But I can say that this young woman shows strong spirit in her work. Her characters come alive; even on the Internet. What a gift! And kudos for the organizers to be inclusive! Bravo!

Todd Ellis wrote: But I can say that this young woman shows strong spirit in her work. Her characters come alive; even on the Internet. What a gift! And kudos for the organizers to be inclusive! Bravo!

spot on

[quote="Rob Kempinski"]We are having a good time in Japan the ASPAC 2011 in Takamatsu.
There was a mini reunion of IBC'ers - including Min Lo, Budi Sulistylo, Will Feldman, Bill Valvanis,Le Thanh Qui (Protomira), Billy Rhodes, CJ Leo, and myself.

Hi everyone
I ' ve just got back from Japan few hours ago...I got a very goodtimes there
Here is the photo taken on the first evening


More photos will be update later.
Rgds/ Quí

It appears the image loader is working again for me at my new hotel in Kyoto.
This is the BCI Tour Group headed for a group diner in our ASPAC Happi Coats. We had 8 different countries participate in the BCI tour. A fun group.
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On the last day of ASPAC, we took a group tour to Takasao En, in nearby Nihama. Mr Yamaji, one of the Japanese ASPAC committee members, and myself in the garden of the late Daizo Iwasaki. That's Alan Walker taking a photo in the right background.


At dinner I warned the Mexican amigos that ordering tako in Japan will not get the same result as in Mexico.


Takasago En has a bewildering number of bonsai trees, but alas with the passing of Mr Iwasaki, this was the last time the public will get to visit it. It will probably be liquidated.

More garden shots




Myself with Christine Leigh Walker of the UK. Christine has some fine trees in her collection.


Interesting Japanese English.

Translation?

Interesting choice (Light Blue) for the Daifuchi of the Byoubu...With the dark base it looks very nice...even though I have never been a big fan of the huge characters drawn with mops....[/quote]

Kakejiku,

These large calligraphy paintings were made by a young lady with Downs Syndrome. She has a great spirit and an innate eye for these large works of art. It's encouraging how each human can find their own way to express themselves. quote]

Kempinski様へ

I believe my main point was the color selection of the border for the byoubu. I did not say the work was without merit. I only stated I am not a fan of the large characters, because of ink spattering, not straight lines, lack of proper haneru, tomeru etcetera. It has been the rage since late 90's to draw these large works with a moplike Fude...In 2001-2002 before moving back to the US I saw many televised shows with these calligraphy demonstrations, using the mop. Many traditionalist 書家 would probably say the same, that they do not particularly enjoy it. Since I am not a trained calligrapher then that is my opinion, and I will get back to my own works which will be posted in December. Unfortunately, only one of the scrolls is commissioned for a Suiseki...and none for a bonsai...

P.S. My other job, besides making scrolls, is being a substitute teacher for Special Education in the local school district...

i'm sorry kakejiku but even though i may be thick i feel you will have a better response and complete understanding of your posts if you use english. I know there are 'proper' terms, and that you may be versed in their names, wrote a book even i think ? etc but saying "the border",or "the brush", or the "backing paper" will make more sense to us, the mere common readers.

once a person is understandable they become approachable, then they may sell more scrolls to the mere bonsai people i for one would be interested in a swooping bird of prey plummetting from the sky to a creature only it can see. This needs to be a harvest / late summer scene, but its not only the scroll that matters, it is the person behind its' creation i need to gell with to be happy to part with money to - same as buying a tree really ! the world is full of people, but i need to connect with the ones i deal with - i think we are all much the same on that one.
swooping perigrine falcon your thing ? with the description of the paper, border, trim etc in english to sell it to me !!

cheers Marcus

marcus watts wrote:i'm sorry kakejiku but even though i may be thick i feel you will have a better response and complete understanding of your posts if you use english. I know there are 'proper' terms, and that you may be versed in their names, wrote a book even i think ? etc but saying "the border",or "the brush", or the "backing paper" will make more sense to us, the mere common readers.

once a person is understandable they become approachable, then they may sell more scrolls to the mere bonsai people i for one would be interested in a swooping bird of prey plummetting from the sky to a creature only it can see. This needs to be a harvest / late summer scene, but its not only the scroll that matters, it is the person behind its' creation i need to gell with to be happy to part with money to - same as buying a tree really ! the world is full of people, but i need to connect with the ones i deal with - i think we are all much the same on that one.
swooping perigrine falcon your thing ? with the description of the paper, border, trim etc in english to sell it to me !!

cheers Marcus

I am afraid this post was hijacked by myself...Let it get back to the bonsai...If you have questions about a Kakejiku, you are welcome to PM to me.

BCI Excellent awards were also given for bonsai and suiseki. Here is the presentation picture on bonsai followed by on suiseki

Hey Budi, great to see you again.
here's a closer shot of the ASPAC Award ceremony assistants and their beautful kimonos.




Yvonne, you might remember our friends from South Africa from the China trip. Here we are making friends with some local guys at a Yakitori house in Takamatsu.
(from the left Toby Kleynhans (in the back), SA, Hennie Nel, SA, me, Sandy Kleynhans, SA, and Glin Varco, USA). The two Japanese guys were locals and we called them Artist and Postman. I think the Postman nickname (guy on right with tie) is going to stick on him.


We moved on from Takamatsu to Kyoto for the Taikanten exhibition but not before some sightseeing of the wonderful gardens and shrines in Kyoto.

Could you post some more bonsai pictures and less, um, people?

We're stuck over here living vicariously through you, and we know what you look like

Russell Coker wrote:

Could you post some more bonsai pictures and less, um, people?

We're stuck over here living vicariously through you, and we know what you look like

Yes please, I understand how insufficient the amount of pictures you guys had taken due to the ban of taking photographs.
I'll settle for a balance mixture of more garden, few trees (if not available), and fewer people.

regards,
jun

have you guys been feeling the Earthquakes over there this week? There have been a few 5's and one nearly a 6...?

I joked with my wife that if a strong earthquake ever rattled a Bonsai exhibit, our natural instinct probably wouldn't be to run but rather to try to steady the trees and keep them from falling.
-Jay

Very nice pictures.

thank you

Following this BCI-tread, is to me, a lot about seeing the all theese people. Many of them, is people I have shared a great time with .....
And Rob... am I happy to see all theese people again, having a great time...Many thanks for posting this photo, it have made my day
I am still waiting for the photo of me and the giant slug.....

Kinkakuji looks as always nice

Kind regards Yvonne

Rob Kempinski wrote:

jun wrote:...this is the second time I saw a million dollar tree here in IBC , but this one looks more believable to fetched that amount. still, I can't believe some guys would spend so much fortune for a tree.

Very nice trees by the way, thanks for sharing your trip guys!
Why the oblique pictures only Rob?

regards,
jun

Pretty much SOP at a Japanese show that photographs are not allowed. They usually publish a book and so I suppose they feel photos would hurt book sales. Also if they let people take photos if would mess up the traffic flow - there were thousands of people stopping by the exhibit. (Heck they had 50,000 people get together the week before the show to spruce up the area around town).

Today I had a chance to go to one of the other ASPAC displays at Tamamo Castle ruins (Across the street from the main exhibition). UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! Magestic bonsai trees displayed in traditional Japanese architecture rooms with tokonmas. Unfortunately they had secruity everywhere and no photographs were allowed. There were even 2 trees from the Japanese Imperial Garden on display.

HI Rob
I think I missed the displays you mentioned
Quí

PROTONWIRA wrote:

Rob Kempinski wrote:

Today I had a chance to go to one of the other ASPAC displays at Tamamo Castle ruins (Across the street from the main exhibition). UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! Magestic bonsai trees displayed in traditional Japanese architecture rooms with tokonmas. Unfortunately they had secruity everywhere and no photographs were allowed. There were even 2 trees from the Japanese Imperial Garden on display.

HI Rob
I think I missed the displays you mentioned
Quí

Qui,

sorry to hear that. The displays were of great trees in tokonomas in a old style Japanese house. And there were many of them.
I tried a James Bond technique to get a photo just to give you an idea. It's blurry but you can get the gist of the set up. There were at least 40 trees in these displays - it seemed like the building went on forever. It also included two trees from the Japanese Imperial Collection.



Today we went to Taikanten, Western Japan's largest bonsai show. Lots of good quality trees.


Opening ceremony


Photos were verbotten but just for my friends here I pulled some strings and got a few shots.
A Japanese White Pine from Osaka

One of the display rows


Trevor Venable, South Afrtica and Chris Allnut from Austrailia


I liked this rosewood stand and hope to make a replica based on this photo.
The Juniper wasn't too shabby either.

Thanks for the added photos of trees Rob.

regards,
jun

Thanks for the report Rob, hope to see more pictures
Great show as always
Xuan

Hi Rob

You must be very good at pulling strings, to be able to send theese photos

At this exhibition two years ago, I tried to take a quick photo, just for me....I am not sure I am going to try this ever again.
In beginning of january will I visit this exhibitionhall again...this time, is it called the "Gafu-ten" and is mostly about shohin. This will be interesting.

The blurred photo...why was the leaves so white?- or was it flowers?.

Kind regards Yvonne

Yvonne Graubaek wrote:Hi Rob

The blurred photo...why was the leaves so white?- or was it flowers?.

Kind regards Yvonne

The white is light reflection off the dried leaves. I forgot what kind of tree this was - a deciduous tree that had not yet lost it leaves for the winter.

Other observations:
There was one persimmon at the Taikanten that had 9 large fruit on it. It was interesting that the fruit bearing branches were all straight while the rest of the tree's branches were fairly wiggly. Upon closer examination the straight fruit bearing branches were actually glued into holes drilled in the tree's live branches. What would you call this a "Fruit-uki"?

We witnessed many of the so called rules broken in action for the sake of art - to wit, having an even number of trunks in a clump planting, aerial roots on pine trees, ferns growing off trunks, heavy wire on branches, wire biting in severely, very obvious guy wires, soil not mossed, a back branch as the number one branch, repeating species in a shohin display, displays with 4, 5 , 6 even 8 items etc. So when you hear someone critique a tree or display and say “the Japanese wouldn’t do that” take it for what it’s worth. Art is art.

There was some (but not much innovation) in the displays. There has been more creativity exhibited in the west in bonsai display.

The overall quality of the trees was excellent but at the risk of starting world war, I am going to say that the quality of the trees I have seen at the recent major US, European, and Taiwanese shows was just as good. What the west lacks is some trees with long term provenance and general appreciation of the art by the general public. It reminds me of the old Benson and Hedges cigarette commercials (yes they used to advertise cigarettes on TV in the USA) – “You’ve come a long way baby.”