Page 22 - BSAM 2015 Q1

Top; repotting is one of the major activities in spring.
Middle; Keiichi Fujikawa applies pesticide and fungicide three to four times during the summer.
Bottom; Keiichi evaluating a potential purchase at one of the bonsai auctions he attends regularly.
themselves. As a result, Kouka-en’s business model has shifted more towards rapid turnover of material, which means higher volume is rolling through the shop throughout the year. This has been the real motivating factor behind Fujikawa-san adding more apprentices to the team as of late. This isn’t to suggest that the nursery has become a cookie-cutter bonsai factory—we simply have a higher volume of material that requires profes- sional styling for public consumption.
How would you describe the current state of Bonsai in Japan?
I often hear from folks around the world that their overall perception of Japanese bonsai is that it is on
It never ceases to surprise me how many young Japanese folks are, at the very least, intrigued by bonsai, but also how many do still decide to pursue apprenticeships at nurseries around the country, despite the potential economic risks.
the decline, that no young Japanese people are really interested in pursuing bonsai as a career these days (the implication being that there is little or no inter- est in traditional Japanese art amongst young folks). I have to say, to me, this doesn’t seem to be the case at all. There’s certainly no doubt that during the eco- nomic bubble period of the 1980s, bonsai was a seri- ously lucrative career choice, and, as such, nurseries across the country had a constant influx of apprentices seeking success in the industry. But the seeming lack of interest in bonsai as a career choice today in Japan is not due to an overall shift away from traditional arts by young Japanese. Rather, it’s almost exclusively economically motivated. Japan has been in a period of economic stagnation since the early ’90s, and dis- posable income has decreased during this period as well—many companies no longer offer the bi-annual bonuses they used to, particularly after the huge reces- sion in 2008. This means that it is becoming harder and harder to make a living as a bonsai professional in Japan today. However, it never ceases to surprise me how many young Japanese folks are, at the very least, intrigued by bonsai, but also how many do still decide to pursue apprenticeships at nurseries around the country, despite the potential economic risks.
Where do Japanese bonsaists look for inspiration? What is energizing bonsai in Japan today?
In recent years, there has been a huge increase in young foreigners coming to Japan to undertake ap- prenticeships in bonsai, and I think this is playing a huge role in shifting the perception of bonsai in Japan as an “old man’s hobby” to that of an internationally recognized art form. I would venture to say, in fact, that the number of foreign apprentices in Japan now either matches or has surpassed that of Japanese ap- prentices—and I think that is really exciting!
The auction process shown in your film is interest- ing. What compels Keiichi Fujikawa to bid on a tree? Beyond the basic profit motive, Fujikawa-san is con- stantly on the lookout for material that might fit the tastes of a particular client. In other words, Kouka- en has a number of regular clients that have specific preferences, and Fujikawa-san tries to source mate- rial that might potentially peak the interest of those
22 | BCI | January/February/March 2015