Kokufu Bonsai Ten Shows

"Kokufu Bonsai Ten"
("National Bonsai Exhibition")

This Page Last Updated: February 10, 2008

       This now eight-day February national exhibit of bonsai is the largest and most prestigious of all bonsai shows worldwide. The Nippon Bonsai Association (NBA), the official sponsor of the event, has worked diligently over many years to insure that only the finest bonsai in Japan are displayed. To win one of the several prizes awarded greatly enhances the career of the stylist and honors the owner of the outstanding tree. However, the Kokufu is not given if there is not a worthy tree.
       For the first-show of the double-show 2006 year, for example, three of the National Prizes were awarded. A Japanese five-needle pine 'Zuisho', a shimpaku juniper (Juniperus chinensis var. 'Sargenti' -- see photo below), and a chojubai (Chaenomeles japonica 'chojubai', dwarf flowering-quince) were most highly esteemed by the panel of sixteen award judges.
       For the second half, there were five National Prizes awarded: another chojubai dwarf flowering-quince, a Japanese five-needle pine (Pinus pentaphylla), a Chinese quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis), a Needle juniper (Juniperus rigida), and a shohin bonsai display.

       The bonsai displayed range from large specimens (up to about 120 cm or 48" tall) to the small shohin-sized trees (less than 25 cm or 10" in height). Although taking place in the dead of winter, nothing is forced to bloom or bud early for the show. The Japanese like to see their bonsai in their natural form. Therefore, the foliage of the Japanese yew, cryptomeria and Needle juniper will mostly be in the reddish winter coloring. And all deciduous trees are represented: true, the majority are still intricate silhouettes, but the early bloomers (literally) are covered in festive pastels.
       Some 260 trees are now displayed annually in the Metropolitan Art Museum in Ueno Park in northeastern Tokyo. Every ten years the show is doubled to about 520 trees. (Since its opening in 1926, the museum has been very popular among citizens as a venue for public exhibitions by nationally and internationally renowned fine arts organizations. The museum was renovated in 1975.)
       The Kokufu show is housed on two basement floors of the Museum. The lowest level contains all the large bonsai, which comprise the majority of displays. The upper floor showcases the shohin and small bonsai. This grouping of trees by size prevents the overpowering of some bonsai by proximity to others.
       The bonsai exhibition is open to the general public and is always seen by crowds. Over 40,000 visitors annually were viewing the show in the early 1990s. (36,000 braved the heavy snows in 1994.) During the last few years, though, attendance has been as low as around 15,000. Between 30,000 and 35,000 people were expected to view the two-part show in 2006 -- the first part's attendance was estimated to be over 15,000 persons. The admission price is ¥1,000 (currently under $9.00 US).

       Nearby the lake park is the “Ueno Green Club” where bonsai nursery owners and potters from all over Japan set up stalls selling their wares. A 10-minute free shuttle bus trip from the museum runs continuously throughout the day to the "club" area. Perhaps four dozen vendors are inside the building there and another five dozen are outside. Sometimes an auction is also held. (The Tokyo Green Club in Ueno often has shows here on weekends throughout the year, with trees, pots, tools, books, and magazines for sale.)
       The Ueno Green Club is also where all the trees entered for the Kokufu-ten are brought about two weeks before the exhibit for judging. Only the top trees are selected by the thirteen show judges, each of whom has a list of all the entrees. This way the judges know that if there are, for example, perhaps twenty ume (Prunus mume, Japanese flowering plum) entered, they will be very critical on how each tree is evaluated, in contrast to a situation where if only a single pomegranate is entered, the judges might perhaps then make a few allowances so that a well-represented exhibit results. After the selection process is completed, the trees are then taken away and returned a few days before the show at the museum. Only professional bonsai artists may bring the trees, like "tree handlers." It costs the tree's owner the equivalent of about $200 to have a single tree pre-judged. If the tree is actually selected for the show, about another $600 fee is required for its entry in the Kokufu-ten.

       Each professional artist is allocated a certain section in the show to display each of his customers' trees. Mr. Morimae, for example in 2006, had seven trees accepted. Once he got to the museum he saw the seven areas next to each other, and proceeded to set up his customers' trees there. Artists look for eye movement direction and tree species in arranging the trees. Usually an evergreen is positioned next to a deciduous or broadleaf tree. After each artist finished placing his customer's trees, Mr. Hiroshi Takeyama (b. 1941), the third and current chairman of the NBA (since 2003), made small adjustments. All the positions are numbered from 1 to about 265. After the final positioning was done, the show guide was completed because nobody knew the exact location of the trees until the last minute. The printer then produced the guide overnight.
       The NBA publishes a high quality catalog or photo book afterwards to commemorate each show. Each album comes packaged in a slipcase box. Usually the trees are photographed at night during the show. Several stages are set up and each tree is brought there for photos.
       For a double-show year, like 2006, the show is closed for a day as the first round of trees is switched out, the second group is brought in, arranged, and a second show guide is finalized and printed. The show then resumes.
       (Master designer and artist Masahiko Kimura (b. 1940) worked on 50 of the 265 trees entered into the second half of the 2006 show. The shimpaku juniper from the first half which was awarded a Kokufu prize had also been designed and displayed by Kimura for a client.)

       From 1914 through 1933, a National Bonsai Exhibition was held annually in Hibya Park in Tokyo. (Another large annual show during this period was the Zen Nihon Bonsaiten, also in Tokyo. These displays were held from 1928 to at least 1931, and each was also commemorated with an illustrated show album of perhaps 80 pages in length.) Beginning in 1934, the Kokufu-ten succeeded the Hibya Park exhibit and it is now the oldest continuous -- except during World War II -- public exhibit in Japan. Author, editor and publisher Norio Kobayashi (1889-1972) was the driving force behind the establishment of the Kokufu Bonsai Society and the Kokufu-ten exhibition. The President of the House of Peers and miniature bonsai enthusiast, Count Yorinaga Matsudaira (1874-1944), was the society's first president. Ninety-six trees were in that initial exhibition.
        Because of a rapid increase in the number of bonsai enthusiasts in Japan in the early 1960s, the need to transform the private Kokufu Bonsai Society into a nationwide public organization became obvious. In February 1965 the Kokufu Bonsai Society was dissolved and reorganized to become the parent body of the Nippon Bonsai Association. Shigeru Yoshida (1878-1967), the former diplomat to London who had been the first prime minister in post-war Japan until 1954, was its first president. The NBA assumed the role of organizer of the annual Kokufu Bonsai Exhibitions. The association currently has more than 300 chapters nationwide with approximately 20,000 members and some 300 other members in 30 countries throughout the world.

(initial material from "The Best Bonsai and Suiseki Exhibits in Japan" by Thomas S. Elias, originally on pg. 12 (of pp. 10-14 article) of the May/June 2002 issue of Bonsai Clubs International's Bonsai Magazine); with some additional material from Morita, Kazuya and NBA Editorial Staff "Bonsai in Japan," in Tsukiyama, Ted T. (ed.) Bonsai of the World, Book I (Japan: World Bonsai Friendship Federation, 1993), pp. 89-90; and "The Kokufu Gamble" by Cheryl Manning, a revised and expanded version of an article that originally appeared in Golden Statements magazine; plus substantial material from personal e-mails to RJB from William N. Valavanis, especially while the latter was in Tokyo during the 2006 show.)

The following was compiled to provide an easy listing of which show took place in what year and vice-versa.
Several sources were studied and compared for this info. The show dates from 1934 through 1983 are per Valavanis' study
of the NBA's 50th Anniversary book and later works.

Year	Show	Notes	Year	Show	Notes	Year	Show	Notes
1934	1st, 2nd	March 17-20; Album size: 23 cm, 96 pp.; Dec. 5-10	1960	34th	Feb. 13-17	1986	60th	Double album (WNV)
1935	3rd, 4th	March 7-12; Nov. 24-28	1961	35th	Feb. 15-19	1987	61st	Feb. 8-15; 25.5 x 24.0 cm, 231 pp.
1936	5th, 6th	Apr. 5-8; 23 cm, 98 pp.; Nov. 29 - Dec. 4	1962	36th	Feb. 15-19	1988	62nd	25.5 x 24.0 cm, 231 pp.
1937	7th, 8th	March 21-25; Nov. 27-30	1963	37th	Feb. 15-19	1989	63rd	26 x 24.5 cm, 229 pp.
1938	9th	Nov. 27 - Dec. 1	1964	38th	?	1990	64th	26 x 24.5 cm, 231 pp.
1939	10th, 11th	March 10-12; Nov. 26-29	1965	39th	Feb. 15-20; 181 bonsai and 24 suiseki displayed	1991	65th	26 x 25 cm, 262 pp.
1940	12th, 13th	March 15-18; Dec. 1-3; 19 x 26 cm, 98 pp.	1966	40th	Feb. 15-20	1992	66th	262 pp.
1941	14th, 15th	March 14-15; Nov. 27-30	1967	41st	Feb. 15-20	1993	67th	26 x 25 cm, 262 pp.
1942	16th, 17th	? Nov. 7-8	1968	42nd	Feb. 15-20	1994	68th	Feb. 10-17; 248 selected displays (only 40% of those entered), 26 x 24.5 cm, 262 pp.
1943	18th	March 19-21	1969	43rd	Feb. 15-21; 27 cm, 203 pp.	1995	69th	26 x 24.5 cm, 260 pp.
1944	19th	March 19-21, but cancelled because exhibition halls were being used for war planning -- never held (DrE)	1970	44th	Feb. 14-21	1996	70th	Feb. 8-16; Double album (WNV) 26 x 25 cm, 492 pp.
1945	none	---	1971	45th	Feb. 15-21	1997	71st	26 x 24.5 cm, 262 pp.
1946	none	---	1972	46th	Feb. 16-22; Color pictures were introduced in the commemorative albums (WNV)	1998	72nd	26 x 25 cm, 270 pp.
1947	20th	Nov. 29 - Dec. 3; 18 x 25 cm, 128 pp.	1973	47th	Feb. 15-21; 26.0 x 19.0 cm, 196 pp.	1999	73rd	26 x 24.5 cm, 279 pp.
1948	21st, 22nd	March 19-21; Dec. 1-4; 19 x 26 cm, 87 pp.	1974	48th	Feb. 15-21; 26 x 19 cm, 215 pp.	2000	74th	25.5 x 24.0 cm, 279 pp.
1949	23rd	Dec. 1-4	1975	49th	Feb. 14-22; 26.5 x 19.0 cm, 190 pp.	2001	75th	25.5 x 24.0 cm, 279 pp.
1950	24th	Dec. 7-10	1976	50th	Feb. 5-13; 26 x 25 cm, 204 pp.	2002	76th	Feb. 9-16; 25.5 x 24.0 cm, 281 pp.
1951	25th	Dec. 6-10	1977	51st	Feb. 4-11; 26 x 24.5 cm, 229 pp.	2003	77th	25.5 x 24.0 cm, 281 pp.
1952	26th	Dec. 10-14	1978	52nd	Feb. 4-11	2004	78th	25.5 x 24.0 cm, 281 pp.
1953	27th	Dec. 11-16	1979	53rd	Feb. 4-11; 26 x 25 cm, 228 pp.	2005	79th	Feb. 9-16; 25.5 x 24.0 cm, 281 pp.
1954	28th 29th	? Dec. 11-15; 15 x 21 cm, 113 pp.	1980	54th	Feb. 5-11; 26 x 25 cm, 231 pp.	2006	80th	Feb. 9-12, 14-17; Double album, 25.5 x 24.0 cm, 507 pp., 500 photos
1955	30th	Dec. 10-14	1981	55th	Feb. 5-11; 26 x 24.5 cm, 231 pp.	2007	81st	Feb. 9-16; 26 x 24.5 cm, 286 pp.; 271 selected entries
1956	31st	Dec. 11-16	1982	56th	Feb. 6-13; 26 x 24.5 cm, 231 pp.	2008	82nd	Feb. 9-16; 269 selected entries
1957	32nd	Dec. 13-18	1983	57th	Feb. 6-13; 26 x 25 cm, 235 pp.
1958	33rd	Dec. 13-18	1984	58th	Feb. 4-14; 26 x 25 cm, 232 pp.
1959	none	due to planned change-over in exhibition dates	1985	59th	26 x 25 cm, 235 pp.

At Some of the Kokufu-ten


1934, #1	1934, #1


1934, the Matsudairas at the first exhibition	1934, outside the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum for #2 exhibition


1934, #2	1935, #4


1987, #61	2006, #80


At the Kato's Mansei-en Garden, Preparing Medium Bonsai for Second Half of 2006 Show	Watering a Shohin Bonsai, 2006 Show

Watering a Medium-sized Bonsai, 2006 Show	Kokufu Award Shimpaku Juniper, 2006

Covers of Some of the Kokufu-ten Albums

(Images in top two rows and for 2006 courtesy of WNV)


1934, #1	1936, #6	1947, #20


1954, #29	1956, #31


1973, #47 album and slipcase box covers	1977, #51 album and slipcase box covers


1987, #61	1989, #63	1991, #65


1996, #70	2000, #74	2004, #78


2006, #80 album cover	2006, #80 slipcase box cover

2006, #80 album pages

NOTES

A personal e-mail reply from Dr. Tom Elias to RJB on 9/26/2005 started this quest when an initial listing of shows and years uncovered several discrepencies.

This page would not have been as detailed and complete without the generous assistance of William N. Valavanis by way of his personal e-mails to RJB on 10/30/05, 10/31/05, 11/01/05, 11/19/05, 02/02/06, 02/07/06, 02/12/06, 02/15/06, 02/16/06, 02/19/06, 06/19/06, 05/30/07, 05/31/07, and 06/08/07. Most of the show pictures above are from Bill, including color photos of the 2006 show, reprinted by permission. Also, his IBC Gallery post Aug. 11, 2005, Reply #7 to http://internetbonsaiclub.org/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=132&topic=16391.0. And his IBC Gallery post June 8, 2007, http://internetbonsaiclub.org/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=133&topic=21952.0 et al. Dates per the NBA's 3-volume Bonsai Encyclopedia and various older Kokufu-ten albums. The display count for 1965 is from a Correction in the July 2007 AisekiKai.com newsletter , pg. 7 by Bill Valavanis.

Koreshoff, Deborah R. Bonsai: Its Art, Science, History and Philosophy (Brisbane, Australia: Boolarong Publications, 1984), pg. 10, w/footnote 31: Kobayashi, Norio "History of Bonsai" -- excerpted and translated from a series of articles appearing in "Bonsai-Tsu," in Western Suburbs Bonsai Journal, Oct. 1972, pg. 10:
      "March 1934, however, marks an event of considerable importance. It was the first Kokufu-kai bonsai exhibition held at Ueno Park, Tokyo, in the grounds of the Art Gallery -- and, since the gallery has always been extremely selective in the types of shows it allows there, this gave bonsai a new status. It was now unquestionable that bonsai was an accepted and respected art form.
      "Two exhibitions were held that year at Ueno Park -- one in spring and one in autumn [sic] . These shows became annual events -- being suspended only during the Pacific War and being resumed in 1947."

This two paragraph quote, almost verbatim, can be found on pg. 24 of Bonsai: Japan Tourist Bureau No. 13, published in 1950. (1960 edition reviewed). The two paragraphs are also in more or less the same form in New Zealander E.A. Scarrow's article "Bonsai," Bonsai, BCI, Vol. VII, No. 10, Dec. 1968-Jan. 1969, pp. 7-8.

Morita, Kazuya and NBA Editorial Staff "Bonsai in Japan," in Tsukiyama, Ted T. (ed.) Bonsai of the World, Book I (Japan: World Bonsai Friendship Federation, 1993), pg. 89, including fourth Kokufu show picture.

Personal e-mail from Rune Kyrdalen to RJB 10/01/2006 which gives numbering of early shows per the 1983 Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition Fifty Years' History.

Nippon Bonsai Association Classic Bonsai of Japan (Tokyo and New York: Kodansha International, 1989), pg. 172, caption for color plate 31. A slightly cropped copy of the above left-hand First Kokufu show picture can be found on pg. 155. Also, from pg. 172, color plate 31, we learn "In 1955 at the 30th Kokufuten exhibition, a 500 year old tosho (Needle juniper, Juniperus rigida) made its first appearance and touched off a reappraisal of that type of tree's virtues. It had been found growing naturally two decades earlier, and its condition is said to have deteriorated seriously at one period. Fortunately it came into the hands of an expert familiar with the tosho, thanks to whom it gives great artistic pleasure today. The deadwood projection at the base of the 36" (90 cm) tall tree conveys an almost terrifying sense of the tree's great age and makes an exquisite contrast with the brilliant green of the foliage." And, from pg.170, color plate 9, we learn "in 1978, at the 52nd Kokufuten exhibition one of the trees was an ohamabo (Hibiscus tiliaceus), with a curved trunk and 130 years old. The 30" (75 cm) tree was an outstanding specimen from Okinawa which afforded distinguished proof of the high level of bonsai there."

"1987 National Bonsai Exhibition (Kokufu Ten)," International Bonsai, 1988/No. 3, pg. 30, 61st Kokufu show picture.

Bonsai Today, No. 24, pg. 10 states "For each exhibition a program was produced. The majority of the trees in the first Kokufuten were overwhelmingly in the ishitsuki [root-on-rock] style, as opposed to those trained in other styles. Among those using rocks, the majority of them were root-over-rock, that is, the roots wrapped around the stone. There were very few clinging-to-the-rock, that is, with roots on the rock. The majority of artists and enthusiasts apparently thus used the stone to emphasize the tree, a significant break with tradition." Pg. 11 then mentions "By the third Kokufu exposition (1935), trees on rocks were now more prevalent than those which were root-over-rock, and rock styles in general predominated." and "At the eighth Kokufu Exposition in November 1939 [sic] , several on-a-rock bonsai were displayed on a suiban [shallow tray capable of holding water], dispensing with soil except in the crevices which held the plants. "

Takeyama, Hiroshi "The broom style," Bonsai Today, No. 26, 1993-4, pp. 42-43: "It was only in the period between World Wars, after the broadening of the aesthetic vision of bonsai masters to a more "natural" concept of styles, that someone decided to train a zelkova in the broom style and exhibit it in Kokufu."

"Prior to the WWII, Kokufuten included exhibit spaces which were much larger -- the length of reception room alcoves extending over 9'. The display choices were very interesting with large cascading bonsai often placed at ends of exhibit space & three or more plants in the center... or numerous plants appearing to flow in one direction with the wind. Display is not one thing or static in Japan." Per posting #8 by Chris Cochrane on Oct. 13, 2006 to "Topic: Uhaku Sudo on display options" on the Internet Bonsai Club.

Per Kyuzo Murata's article "Spirit of Bonsai" (Journal, ABS, Vol. 21, No. 2, Summer 1987, pp. 7, from his 1975 speech before the ABS), "...A famous zelkova was owned by the late Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, who happened to be the Chairman [1965-67] of Nippon Bonsai Association at the time. The zelkova was created by Mr. Ogata, who had severed the main trunk of the zelkova and created a totally new look.
     "When I first saw it at the annual Kokufukai Exhibition, I laughed at it. So did the directors of national museums who attended the exhibition. Several years later it was exhibited at the [1964] Toyko Olympics and that time people liked it. Some years later, it was again displayed at the Kokufukai Exhibition, and then it was recognized as one of the finest bonsai in Japan. It really is a strange-looking tree. You would never find such an unnatural-looking tree anywhere in the world; yet it looks exactly like a huge zelkova standing alone and strong in the field."

WBC 5 Presenters, Hiroshi Takeyama, http://www.bonsai-wbff.org/wbc5/presenters/htakeyama.htm.

Album dimensions and page counts from 1973 onward were mostly gotten from offers seen on ebay.com, ebay.ca, ebay.co.uk, ebay.com.au, or Dallas Bonsai Garden.

Album dimensions and page counts for the years 1934 through 1969 are from listings in the National Agricultural Library (AGRICOLA), http://agricola.nal.usda.gov/, using the search request keyword of "bonsai." The information about the Zen Nihon Bonsaiten is also from this source.

GardenBanter posting by Jim Lewis "Tokyo," Mar. 16, 2003, http://www.gardenbanter.co.uk.showpost.php?p=62400&postcount=1.

And how many trees have been seen in all the shows? Using a crude estimate for the 81 Kokufuten to-date (there was no #19) of an average of 150 to 250 trees per show -- assuming that the earliest presentations had a smaller number exhibited while the last 20 (at least) had 250+ trees -- we arrive at a range of about 13,000 to 19,000 specimens displayed. Estimating that perhaps as many as 10% of the trees may have been "frequent flyers" appearing in more than one show, we can very roughly say that some 11,000 to 17,000 individual compositions have been seen by the many national and international visitors to the show since its inception in 1934. (We will try to fine-tune these estimates as time goes by with counts from at least representative albums through the years.)

(Note: It is purely coincidental that the grid as designed has the 1934 year on the same line as the 34th show which was held in 1960, which is on the same line as the 60th show, etc.)

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