A New Series of Essays by Internationally Active Bonsai Master on the Traditional Culture of Bonsai

Bonsai is the art of replicating the aesthetic beauty of trees in their natural form in a pot. As part of Japan's traditional cultural heritage, bonsai has transcended national borders and is loved and appreciated around the globe, as attested by the large number of bonsai enthusiasts from various countries who gather at the World Bonsai Convention held once every four years. The art of bonsai has captured the imagination of people from all over the world, but what is the secret of its appeal? In this series of essays, Takahiro Mori, a bonsai master who is working to promote this ancient art in and out of Japan will share various ways to appreciate and enjoy bonsai.

Takahiro Mori
Bonsai master Takahiro Mori was born in Tokyo in 1979. After graduating from the College of Applied International Studies at Tokiwa University, in 2002 he began studying bonsai as an apprentice at Katsuta Koushouen, a bonsai garden in Ibaraki Prefecture. In 2006, he became independent and launched his own activities. In 2009, one of his works won the Kokufu Award at the Kokufu-ten Bonsai Exhibition, an event with a long and distinguished history. From 2009 to 2013, he worked as an in-house bonsai artist at the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum, Saitama. In 2013, he traveled to Kosice in Slovenia, the European Capital of Culture 2013, as a bonsai demonstrator, and participated as a representative of bonsai masters in the presentation for Saitama's bidding to host the 8th World Bonsai Convention, which will be held in 2017. Mori conducted demonstrations at Bonsai Slovakia 2014, and participated as a bonsai expert in the Japan Government exhibit at the EXPO 2016 Antalya International Horticultural Exposition held in Turkey in 2016. Today, in addition to his work as a bonsai master, Mori is actively engaged in initiatives to promote the art of bonsai in Japan and abroad through workshops for beginners that he conducts at his atelier Bonsai Mori established in 2013 and bonsai classes he organizes in California in the United States.

Bonsai Mori website: http://bonsaimori.jp/
Bonsai Mori Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Bonsaimori/

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