Certified Bonsai Master - Mr Ishii

[Webos]

Today I spent the day with Mr Ishii. He is a very kind and friendly guy who is very enthusiastic about sharing his knowledge. All day he made it clear that he wants whatever he teaches me, to be shared with friends when I get back to Australia.

There is so much that we spoke about throughout the course of the day that I'm sure there is a lot that I have forgotten already. Mr Ishii is a deeply philosophical man, continually using metaphors to describe Bonsai work, life, survival and creation.

One thing that came up again and again in conversation was that Bonsai does not come from a book, and although it is your hands doing the work, a bonsai is created with your heart and your soul. He believes that too many people today are seeing Bonsai in books and thinking to themselves "I am going to make THAT bonsai".. Mr Ishii says, "This is not good.. You will find yourself creating a tree that struggles against itself. Every tree has a history, every cut, bruise and scar tells a story.. It is up to the Bonsai artist to respect that history and create a tree that shows exactly what it has been through to become what it is. Only in this way will you create a balanced and harmonious tree. So forget following the books step by step, follow the tree and you will succeed.

One more important thing that he talked about was the seasons. He said "You must learn the seasons. You must learn what trees do in the different seasons. If you can understand perfectly how your trees grow at the different times of the year, you can achieve anything in Bonsai. You must know what type of work to do, and when, You must understand that strong and weak trees must be treated differently. Old and young trees must be treated differently.. You wouldnt send your grandpa out to run a marathon would you? "

Mr Ishii also talked about having a clear idea of your outcome before you start working on a tree. He said that he looks at a tree, and paints a picture in his mind of what the tree will look like when finished. Then sets out to begin work. If he cant find that picture in his mind, he will not cut anything off of the tree. He said that too many people start chopping away at a tree in the hope that they will find a tree in there somewhere. He said this is bad. You cant put branches back once they've been cut off. He believes that things must be done properly and that no Bonsai can be made in 3hrs like we see in Demo's and in Magazines. A tree will live for a lot longer than you or I. We are simply the tree's custodians for the time being. So to create an instant Bonsai that will not last the distance shows a lack of respect for the tree. Keep your trees future in mind and do it once, do it right.

Anyway, here are just a couple of snapshots of Mr Ishii and the Black Pine that I worked on today. It's summer here, so there isnt much work to be done. But today I spent all day needle plucking and cutting off shoots that are too strong. Balancing the power of shoots. Apparently this tree is very old.. Mr Ishii acquired it about 30 years ago from a client who passed away. He said that the tree looks the same now as it did then and that it needs a change.. Its a bit boring standing straight up like this.. He said he'd like to give it more of a slant to enhance the interest and drama in the tree. He said that he wants me to come back to Japan and do the work to get it to that stage! I'll have to start planning my next trip I suppose.

In the next few days when I go to his nursery, he told me he wants to teach me the art of Jinning... Something I am very excited about!

Webos in Japan

[anttal63]

It sounds like you have a very sensative and wise teacher. Blessed you are, enjoy mate i cant wait to chew the fat.

[Nathan]

Great post, thanks for taking the time to share what you are doing and learning, it would be great if you could post an Itinerary of your trip when you get back with where you visited and who you worked with

[phantom]

Webos is that Yoshi in the back ground.?

[Webos]

That is definitelyy true Anttal. I can do that Amy, no problem. Phantom, No, it's not Yoshi.. It was just a local fella that was there for the the whole day drinking tea, watching and chatting. Not sure how well Yoshi would know Mr Ishii. Mr Ishii and Hirotoshi Saito are good mates. Yoshi doesnt know Mr Saito at all apparently.

Phantom, did you happen to catch Sam's evening at the club? How did it go?

[Barry1]

What a fantastic experience for you ! and thanks for sharing

Barry

[Webos]

Went to see Mr Ishii today and same as yesterday, we sat for an hour or so chatting before the work. There were 3 or 4 fellas there. Most of them had been there the morning before as well. It seems that they all get together, drink tea and chat all day long. Mr Ishii does some Bonsai work and everyone else sits around and chats. Once again Mr Ishii took us all out for lunch.. Today it was a nice steak place!

Today he gave me a Shimpaku to work on and we started with deciding which branches to use.. The rest was Jin. He showed me how he creates Jin and Shari on the tree and told me that on Shimpaku, we want to see both Shari and the live vein when we view the tree. He said it is bad to show a tree that has no live vein showing.