In danger of dying out! Why is a 500-year-old bonsai tree owned by Tokugawa Iemitsu being cared for by a metropolitan high school student?

Dying in a hurry…Iemitsu’s bonsai!

Bonsai is booming worldwide, but regardless of such boom, the Bonsai Club has been active at Tokyo Metropolitan Horticultural High School for 117 years since the school opened in 1908. The bonsai grown there is a 500-year-old bonsai loved by Iemitsu Tokugawa, and in 1999 it was registered as a valuable bonsai by the Japan Bonsai Association. Why is such a valuable bonsai in a high school?

That is not well understood. According to the data, it was purchased by the Tokyo Prefectural Government (at that time) in 1908 from the person who owned it at that time, and transferred to the school when it was founded, but that is all we know.

That’s all we know,” said Mr. Soji Katayanagi, advisor of the Bonsai Club. It has been 10 years since he was assigned to Horticulture High School. He became the advisor because of his background in bonsai studies as a student.

Tokyo Metropolitan Horticultural High School was the first horticultural high school in Japan to open in 1908 (Meiji 41). That was 117 years ago.

The school was the first horticultural high school in Japan, and I think they wanted to make it unique. There is a record of a bonsai club in 1933.

Yes, this high school has a bonsai club. The Bonsai Club has an area 2.3 times the size of the Tokyo Dome, and the club’s activity area, which is about the size of two tennis courts, is lined with as many as 1,000 pots of bonsai.

Currently, the Bonsai Club has 30 members. Some of the students have been interested in bonsai since elementary school and hope to become apprentices with a bonsai master after graduation.

Each member of the club has two bonsai as “my bonsai” and takes care of them. Iemitsu’s bonsai is also cared for by club members.

The club is not limited to club activities. The second and third year students of the horticulture course also have a bonsai class, in which a specialist teaches the class. For bonsai enthusiasts, this is an irresistible environment.

However, the majority of club members had no experience with bonsai until they entered high school. But they have never touched a bonsai before entering high school, so how can they trust Iemitsu with their bonsai?

We will teach them how to take care of it, and we will also check it, so don’t worry.

However, there was a crisis. It was in March three years ago.

One of Iemitsu’s two bonsai, a ‘northern five-leaf pine,’ began to die.

Was there something wrong with the students’ care?

No. At first I did not know why it was dying at all. At first, I had no idea why it was dying. But as I investigated, I found that the winter of that year was warm, even reaching 18 degrees Celsius on some days, which caused the filamentous fungus to become active. This may have been a combination of several factors, such as the growth of filamentous fungi, the growth of bacteria due to bird droppings, and leaf scorch caused by evaporation of water.

Fortunately, the bonsai recovered safely, but climate change seems to be affecting bonsai as well.

Ignore the previous generation! The fun of bonsai

But what is it like to care for a bonsai?

He says, “I check for new shoots and cut downwards-facing buds. I also cut any buds that are growing too long.

He does this one branch at a time. It is a labor-intensive process.

What is it about bonsai that attracts the students to this seemingly simple club activity?

The students say it’s because it’s cute and cool.

Cute?　Cute or cool?　I am not sure. So I asked them to show me their bonsai.

They said, “We try to make the branches grow on the left side as much as possible. It’s called a “blowing stream,” which expresses the wind blowing from the right side.

Some of the bonsai were designed to look like dragons, which I thought was kind of cool.

However, the graduating seniors wanted to make it more like a spreading branch instead of a blown stream,” he said.

Why don’t you want to carry on your predecessors’ ideas?

A bonsai lives for 100 or 200 years. Naturally, the person who takes care of the bonsai changes.

As the generations change, the bonsai also changes rapidly. That is the interesting thing about bonsai.

Unconventional! Ghibli-style bonsai, too!

There are many rules about the shape and presentation of bonsai,

We teach the basics, but the rest is up to the students. We teach the basics, but the rest is up to the students.

As a result, there are bonsai with branches extending out like antennae, inspired by the world of Ghibli, and bonsai in pots that are not normally used for pine trees.

I think that’s fine. The art of bonsai does not end with bonsai alone. Trying different things to achieve the shape you want to achieve will help you. I want you to remember to challenge yourself toward your goal.

Besides, a bonsai needs to be nurtured for a long time, 10 years or 100 years from now. To look at a bonsai is to look at time. We live in a very busy time, but at least when you are taking care of your bonsai, think about how you want it to look in the future, and at the same time, think about what you want to become.

The students’ career paths are varied. Some are going on to higher education, while others are aiming to become nurses. How will they shape their future?