The Bonsai Blog of Bjorn Bjorholm

Archive for June, 2008

The First Week(s)

Sunday, June 8th, 2008

I’ve officially started my apprenticeship at Fujikawa Kouka-en in Ikeda City, Japan! The first few days have been trying but equally as fun. Before I arrived, I was told by Mr. Fujikawa that I would be required to undergo a two or three month trial period before he would decide about whether or not to keep me on as an apprentice long-term. I assumed this meant I would be sweeping and cleaning the nursery for hours on end and never getting to lay a hand on anything until those two or three months were up. Much to my surprise, I was asked to jump right in on the first day and got to work on some material! Even more surprisingly, the bonsai I worked on weren’t just bland, mass produced material but rather Kokufu-ten and National Treasure bonsai!
In the first few days on the job I’ve also learned a lot about Mr. Fujikawa. Turns out he originally apprenticed with Saburo Kato at Mansei-en in Omiya, Japan for a 5-year period nearly 25 years ago! Mr. Fujikawa’s style in terms of bonsai reflects that of Mr. Kato in many ways – most of his trees are of a quiet nature and reflect the natural landscape of Japan. Fujikawa also grows just about every type and size of tree he can find, though most of the bonsai in the nursery are large deciduous plants. We’ve been thinning and defoliating maples, quince, oleaster, and stewartia among other species for about 10 hours straight every single day. I don’t mind the work at all, as a matter of fact I have it relatively easy compared to most apprentices in Japan and Mr. Fujikawa is a nice, laid-back boss.
Below are a few pictures of the nursery and some of the material we’ve been working on over the past few days/weeks. I’ll be posting more in the near future. Thanks and enjoy!

Some of the shohin bonsai