Bonsai Shopping Heaven in Japan

Might not look like it, but we're now at the heart of Bonsai in Tokyo. Very close to the Kokufu Ten, we are at the Ueno Green Bonsai Store. And let me just flip this camera around to give you an idea of what I'm seeing here. It's open year-round, but I'm assuming that specifically for the Kokufu, the offerings are additionally large. This is of course a Prunus Muum. White flowering, perfect timing. I don't see a price tag. Well, I do see a price tag, but I can't read it. Maybe I'll translate it before posting. And that's a very big one. Of course, there's also very small ones. Look at this. Tiny little Japanese maples. So what we see here for 65,000, which is about 200 euros, one juniper with a spiraling trunk. And if you've seen my video on deadwood and live veins, here you can see that the spiraling vein has been created in exactly the same way as I explained there. You see that the veins in the deadwood are straight, and the living tissue spirals around the trunk. So this has been done by carving out and then letting the tree grow for a decade or two. So it really swells up. So this is the intent that I also had with my video. I'll splice in some footage of that. I'm now just cutting into the bark all the way to the wood, spiraling around, and I'm removing the bark in between. As said, I'm keeping this very narrow initially. You can always widen it out later on. So now we've got a completely connected spiral going from all the way here down up once around, twice around, three times around. And where does it stop? This is actually the end point of the spiral. And then next year I will layer it off, but I also try to make it a completely formal upright with a nice spiral going up. I think that is going to be a cool tree. In here, what is really cool to see is that even these very small plants are very old. You see the bark crackling. We find branches. Very, very nice. Trident like this is really one of my dreams. I need to find some proper material at home because importing from Japan also to Europe is not easy and not self-evident. I'm not going to show you every tree here, right? There's just way too much material here. Very, very old Japanese maple. Very, very white base. Some of these trees are, of course, exceptionally large and big. Luna's moon flower apricot in spring. Gotta love them. And this is this small leafed Hinoki cypress. It's only about 40 centimeters tall, but look at that refinement. Look at the very nice dense worked out crown. Just to give you some idea, 650,000, that is around two and a half thousand euros will get you this ancient Punus Uma. And when I say ancient, you really have to look here at this bark. Look at this deadwood. And of course, the ancient bark extends all the way down the branches. Some very nice small starter plants. It's really unfortunate that we're not supposed to take any of this with us home. Prices are okay. Two, three euros each. And all sorts of species, right? What's nice to see is that also the slender, tall forms are appreciated here. This one goes for 80,000. Very tall and slender with just a very small crown on top. Look at the rest of all these trees. Again, Punus Uma, full on flower. Persimmon Kaki, really nice. And all of these trees are really, really old. If you look at these white vines, all ungrafted. And look at the age of these trunks. This is a small one. And the big one here in the back. Look at that. And this is not exhibition quality, right? This is just for sale. This is not the exhibition. What does this go for? Really cool. And not just one, right? You have one after the other, after the other of this quality. You get all prices and sizes here, right? Let's just flip the camera around and look at some differences here. So here you see tiny little Punus Uma. And these go for 6,000, which is about 30 euros. And hiding behind it is this wonderful twin trunk Trident Maple. Let me turn it for the sun. Look at this ramification. Look at this root base. It's enormous. If you look at this Punus Uma, this is of course a quality and a size. You will not typically find for sale in our markets. Let's see if I can zoom in a little bit. I think I found my tree. And let me flip the camera around. I'm not going to be able, of course, to bring it with me. But I think I found my tree. I don't think I'm going to be able to bring it with me though. I'm going to flip the camera around and let me show you what I've seen here. This is of course a Kaide, or Trident Maple. Very large. You can see the people passing by in the background. It is growing over a rock. Look at that. Very, very long on the rock. But what I really like is this branch that comes forward here. Really creating a sense of depth. Shielding part of the trunk, but not completely. And if you go around, it actually has a second branch here on the right down low. And if I zoom out again, you see how it just completely creates a nice canopy. I'm going to go around from the left. Now you look in. You can really see how this branch coming forward has multiple levels. And if you just go through the tree like this, look at how nice this crown is shaped. And of course the ramification is magnificent. This is incredible. Yeah, I would say this could be my tree. And if you're ever wondering how the smallest of bonsai are kept. And when I say small, I'm talking very small. And these are not cheap, right? These are all still 15, 20, 30, 40 euros each. Dozens and dozens and dozens. And look at this magnolia. Gorgeous, ready to go for spring. Nice flowerbed, but also the ramification on this is quite extreme. The wounds closed over nicely. Very nice little tree. Of course. It is very busy, so I'm going to leave you. I'm going to walk around a little bit more. This was Jelle growing bonsai at Ueno Green Bonsai Club. So much more to be seen here. It's insane.