Page 4 ...
My
average day, if there is such a thing,
begins at seven,
and finishes whenever, sometimes at seven, sometimes past midnight.
Japanese
society is very structured and everybody has their level, depending on
experience, money, power or birth. This
is best illustrated in the Oyakata–Deshi (master-apprentice)
relationship. We
are his servants and as such we are
expected to show respect at all times, and he in turn has to show
respect to
the most important people, the customers. There
is also a very rigid hierarchy within
the apprentices, anybody senior to you is your Senpai, and anyone who
is your
junior is your Kohai. I
am technically
the most senior apprentice here half of the time, which is a joke, but
among
the three of us who are here, we all consider ourselves very much
equal. 
My
fellow
apprentices are an American, Tom, a
Japanese lad called Tanoue–kun and my senpai,
Akiyama–san. He
has been at Shunkaen for six years and is
only six months younger than me. He
is
one of the greatest technical Bonsai artists I have ever seen work, and
his
vision and sense is second to only a few. He
will certainly be one of the great Bonsai
artists of the future and I am very lucky to have him as my senpai. 
Tanoue–kun
is a
bonsai virgin, but is learning
at an amazing rate and he has the one thing that you cannot get from
study and
hard work, sense. Tom
is a fellow
foreigner who has been here just over a month and we often work
together
because we are very much in the way at times, the language difficulty
makes
things hard at times, so we are often sent away to the corner with
little hats
on head and made to count 3761 seeds or some such meaningless task,
still ours
is not to question why. Tom
and I get on
well, but the language difficulty between us makes things hard, but we
manage
to communicate in a fashion.
I
work seven days a week, twelve hours a day, so I don’t have
much of a life
outside of work, but I try. I
still have
one or two friends left from my previous incarnation, and also a very
forgiving
girlfriend. Its a
real effort at times
to get out to see people, because I get back to bed at about one am,
then have
to get up for six the next day, but without them I would go insane. My family is just as
important, but
unfortunately contact is limited to a few emails from my mobile phone
and the
occasional incomprehensible conversation. I
miss them and
Why?
Being asked this question is like being asked to divide 4116 by 98 in your head, and I am incredibly bad at mental arithmetic, but I will try and answer.
Despite English having the most words of any language, it is still difficult to condense such simple ideas and feelings into words. Bonsai is more than just a hobby gone too far, or a perverse form of gardening, it is art and nature inseparably entwined. Each tree has its own life and personality, all of which come from the numerous artists who have cared for it and shaped it in their personal fashion. A tree that is over 800 years old has history that we just cannot begin to comprehend, as a bonsai for over 300 years, it will have had hundreds of people caring for it, gently bending, cutting, shaping, making more beautiful and giving a little part of themselves to each tree. To be part of that is an honour and a responsibility, and one which I am relishing.
Today
I have been forced by
Kobayashi–sensei’s wife
to stop working because I
was still wiring a bonsai at ten at night, having finished at six. I just couldn’t
stop, because I knew what I
wanted to do, and I could feel it, and I didnt want to lose it. It is
for
exactly this reason that I love bonsai and am here to work and learn;
knowing
how to perfect the tree, and having the technique and skills to make it
real. 
Bonsai is in many ways about perfecting nature, idealizing it and making it real. In this sense it is almost like a religion, the object of worship being nature itself. Some people think that it is unnatural or grotesque, and some bonsai are; trees which have been altered beyond all recognition and machined to create amazing looking objects, but objects nevertheless. Bonsai should be a perfect balance between nature and man, the artist must work with the tree, not on it. Semantics perhaps, but the mentality with which you approach bonsai will affect everything you do. I knew that I wanted to do bonsai professionally the first time I sat with a tree in front of me and actually saw the possibilities for it, and therefore me. The tree I worked with has subsequently died, but let that not be an ill omen.
Bonsai is so simple it is difficult to explain, there are only three main ideas, Balance, Harmony and Line. Balance between space and void, life and death, man and nature. The harmony comes from perfect balance and is held together by the line. The perfect tree will clear your mind of everything, because you will feel in perfect harmony with nature. Your eyes will follow the line of the tree and the balance of space will evoke an image. That image is created by the artist, by his experiences and ideas about nature and life.
Why did I choose bonsai? I love beauty. It doesn’t matter where or what it is; a bonsai, a single flower in a vase or a cross field ball from Beckham for Heskey to knock down for Rooney to place it into the corner of the net. It is all comes from striving for perfection and sometimes, just sometimes reaching it. Nature has its own unique beauty and man has his own personal interpretation of beauty. Bonsai is the fusion of these two fundamental concepts and that is why we do it.
4116 by 98 is 42. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, but I’m a long way off it yet.
