Trip to Japan/Visiting Apprentice

[yenling83]

Hey Fellow B Nuts,

In early spring I had the opportunity to go to Japan and apprentice for two weeks at Aichi-En. Aichi-En is now a fourth generation Bonsai nursery, maybe most well known in the West because of Peter Tea, Juan Andrade, John Milton and Danny Coffee who all have studied or are currently studying there. It was an incredible experience for me. I've posted a bunch of pics and a little write up about the trip if anyone's interested.

Part 1:
http://www.yenlingbonsai.com/2015/03/17/aichi-en-visiting-apprentice-trip-report-part-1/

Part 2:
http://www.yenlingbonsai.com/2015/03/23/aichi-en-visiting-apprentice-trip-report-part-2/

Part 3:
http://www.yenlingbonsai.com/2015/04/14/aichi-en-visiting-apprentice-trip-report-part-3/

Part 4:
http://www.yenlingbonsai.com/2015/07/04/aichi-en-visiting-apprentice-trip-report-part-4/

Thanks for checking it out!

 

[AboveBeyond]

Amazing trip Jeremiah! The trees are spectacular!

 

[thumblessprimate1]

That root over rock Trident maple in your part 3 is one of my favorite Tridents. I love the unique long lobed shape of the leaves it has when it does have leaves.

 

[Kandoloh]

Wow what an amazing experience that must have been!

 

[JudyB]

Got the latest blog post yesterday, thanks for keeping it going. Tea time looks very yummy.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Trip of a lifetime Jeremiah. Thanks for the photos and blog!

 

[Eric Group]

Thank you so much for posting all of this great info! Those ISPs us who have never been (and probably will never GO) on an apprenticeship like this can learn so much just from reading your blog.

Looks like an amazing trip!

How long have you been doing Bonsai? You look like a very young man.

What would you say was the most surprising/ "different" technique you learned while there? Something you saw them doing that you had never even heard of prior to going to Japan.. I have only read through two of the posts so far, so if you mention something like this in the blog, I apologize for asking you to repeat it.

Thanks again for posting all of this! Great job with the pics and descriptions!

 

[michaelj]

One can apprentice for as little as two weeks? Intriguing.

 

[zachkent29]

Thanks for writing, that was a wonderful read!

 

[yenling83]

Thank you so much for posting all of this great info! Those ISPs us who have never been (and probably will never GO) on an apprenticeship like this can learn so much just from reading your blog.

Looks like an amazing trip!

How long have you been doing Bonsai? You look like a very young man.

What would you say was the most surprising/ "different" technique you learned while there? Something you saw them doing that you had never even heard of prior to going to Japan.. I have only read through two of the posts so far, so if you mention something like this in the blog, I apologize for asking you to repeat it.

Thanks again for posting all of this! Great job with the pics and descriptions!

Thank you all for the replies! I've been doing bonsai since 2008, I started with Peter Tea, then with Boon once Peter went to Japan. Hmmm... great question. I don't know if anything was significantly different than I expected, but maybe that's because I've read through everything that Peter, Juan and John have been posting online many times. If you haven't checked those out i'd highly recommend doing so. So I already saw the extreme bending, black tape, joint caulk, and some other things like that from the nursery. I think it was just the 1000 little things I learned like trees grow faster on cement benches compared with wood, generally speaking you want to grow really refined trees very slowly, always use stainless steel screws when drilling into a tree, stainless steel wire is much stronger than copper, when twisting two wires together it becomes much easier if you bend the end into an L shape-this will give you much more leverage and easier to twist evenly. Lots of little things were surprising to me.

 

[zachkent29]

Faster on cement benches?? Please explain!

 

[Eric Group]

Thank you all for the replies! I've been doing bonsai since 2008, I started with Peter Tea, then with Boon once Peter went to Japan. Hmmm... great question. I don't know if anything was significantly different than I expected, but maybe that's because I've read through everything that Peter, Juan and John have been posting online many times. If you haven't checked those out i'd highly recommend doing so. So I already saw the extreme bending, black tape, joint caulk, and some other things like that from the nursery. I think it was just the 1000 little things I learned like trees grow faster on cement benches compared with wood, generally speaking you want to grow really refined trees very slowly, always use stainless steel screws when drilling into a tree, stainless steel wire is much stronger than copper, when twisting two wires together it becomes much easier if you bend the end into an L shape-this will give you much more leverage and easier to twist evenly. Lots of little things were surprising to me.

Concrete benches? Really!? That is really interesting... You think it has something to do with heat?.. a thin piece of wood or two/three with air in between the pieces would allow cool air to keep the roots cooler maybe in the Spring, where as a big, solid hunk of concrete regulates the temps better, leading to more growth faster in the Spring... maybe? Best guess.. No clue honestly.. I keep a large number of my trees along the edge of a concrete raised patio, but I cannot say I ever noticed a big difference in growth rates between that and a wooden bench.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[yenling83]

Yes, it's just because of the bottom heat, which in some areas may or may not be a good thing. I'm sure there is varying degrees of how well it works. On the Central Coast of CA where I live, it does not get that hot so if I want to see more growth cement would be the way to go. I might use cement benches for trees in development and wood for more refined trees. Humidity is also a big factor in growth. Something I have recently been playing around with because it's really dry where I live.

 

[Vin]

What an awesome experience it must have been! Boy have I got a long way to go

 

[The Bonsai Herald]

Do you plan on returning to Japan to study?

Thanks for sharing your posts. They were a pleasure to read.

Andrew

 

[yenling83]

Thanks Guys! Yes I plan to return but only for visiting apprenticeships, and nothing lined up for right now.

 

[Giga]

You just fulfilled a bucket list item! One day I'm going to make it over there and see all the nurseries.