The main resources for sightseeing in Kagawa are Seto Inland Sea, Shodoshima Island, Kotohiragu Shrine, Ritsurin Garden, and Sanuki Udon Noodle. However visitors came to Kagawa several times hope to experience the new form of sightseeing. So the people start to pay attention to the tour looking around bonsai as a choice.

Sympathize with living art

Senzoku Nobuyuki, a professor of Seijo University, had visited the Matsukata Collection of the National Museum of Western Art held in 1967 (the 42nd year of the Showa era) in Takamatsu city and liked Kagawa’s climate and taste. Since then, he has been to Kagawa for 70 times. He is a specialist in western art and visited Kagawa with 6 companies including adviser and staff of art museum, specialist of art history of China, and editor this time.

Kuri Mineyo, from Takamatsu’s Nishi Yamasaki town, welcomed this group familiar with Kagawa and recommended the tour looking around bonsai as the new attraction. And she guided them to Kandaka Shojuen Bonsai Garden which is one of the great bonsai garden in Takamatsu’s Kinashi town. Nishikizawa Motoko, who was a student of Prof. Senzoku and work in Shogakukan as a leading editor, is well versed in bonsai and said, ‘The fine bonsai is living art. I like trees having fruits like Mayumi (Euonymus hamiltonianus Wall). The growers take great care of this garden so I felt comfortable here.’

Bonsai Garden welcomes visitors

Kandaka Shojuen Bonsai Garden is famous in Japan and there are many visitors and buyers from a distance. Kandaka Fujiyoshi, the 3rd owner, and Kandaka Keiji, the 4th owner, guided their garden on this day.

The group looked around the entire garden. They watched the pine bonsai trees over 200 years old carefully in ‘Zuiho den’ which exhibits some masterpieces including the pine tree belonged to Okuma Shigenobu. Keiji showed them Furuhatori (cutting old needles) of Goyomatsu (Japanese white pine) and explained how to take care simply.

Fujiyoshi and Keiji say, ‘We welcome not only buyers and growers but also tourist like them. It’s a good chance to tell the charms of bonsai to many people. We hope to be understood the quality of materials and the affordable price of bonsai in Kagawa by visitors, especially from Kanto region where is famous for bonsai.’

(By Shigeo Hano)