Where is the best place to purchase bonsai trees? You may find an expensive bonsai product priced at several hundreds of thousand of yen at a bonsai exhibition. In such a case, you may feel nervous about entering the bonsai world. But bonsai materials are available costing less than 1,000 yen and inexpensive bonsai trees priced only at several thousand yen. One need not hesitate to visit bonsai gardens. You will certainly be welcome at any garden in Japan’s leading bonsai production center at the Kinashi and Kokubunji areas in the city of Takamatsu, the capital of Kagawa Prefecture.

Visiting bonsai gardens

Vast bonsai fields stretch through Takamatsu’s Kinashi and Kokubunji areas. A number of bonsai gardens are located near the fields. Visitors can see garden owners busy caring for their bonsai products.

Bonsai gardens are virtually a treasure house for bonsai lovers. Not only shohaku evergreen pines but a variety of species, such as zoki deciduous trees and wild plants, are grown there. Each bonsai garden has its own features and specialty. It would be the ultimate excitement for bonsai lovers to spend time visiting gardens and comparing their products.

Bonsai gardens are advantageous in that a visitor can purchase products there at low cost and also consult with professional bonsai growers. They offer buyers bonsai basics and after-sales service. Some buyers of high-quality trees entrust the gardens their trees for daily care there.

Seize a chance at exhibitions

Two major bonsai fairs are held each fall in Takamatsu. One is the Kinashi Bonsai and Garden Plants Festival in the Kinashi area, and the other is the Green Festa Kokubunji in the Kokubunji district. Both are popular among bonsai lovers. During the events, masterpieces are put on display. In addition, producers give lessons and demonstrations. Spot sale sessions are also held. In such sessions, bonsai trees are sold at relatively affordable prices. Buyers can directly talk to producers on such occasions.

Besides the two major fairs, many more bonsai events are held, such as spring and summer bonsai festivals. In those events, visitors can often receive lessons on sentei tree-trimming and hariganekake wiring techniques.

JA Kagawa Prefecture’s Kokubunji bonsai center is located in Takamatsu’s Kokubunji township. Its telephone number is 087-874-2795 for a call within Japan outside of Takamatsu and 81-87-874-2795 for a call from outside Japan. It is situated alongside prefectural highway 33. About 8,000 matsu pine and zoki deciduous trees planted in vessels are put on the shelves for sale there. No admission fee is required to enter the bonsai center, which is open seven days a week, except for the year-end and New Year’s holiday season. A rich variety of bonsai trees with fixed prices are on the shelves. Visitors can take their time searching for a favorite bonsai. It is a sacred spot for bonsai lovers.

（By Shigeo Hano）

translated by Kyodo News