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Bonsai, the traditional art of cultivating miniature trees,
was introduced to Japan from China. At first, "tray planting"
was very popular with the noble people, but gradually it turned
from elite art to national-wide passion. The characteristic
feature of Japanese bonsai is "artificial naturalness".
Whatever intricate form the tree may have it always should
look like a real big tree and conjure up natural landscape,
where it could grow.
The art of bonsai demands a lot from the artist: refined artistic
taste and a deep insight into the nature, certain knowledge
in gardening to make the made-up image real and, perhaps,
the most important quality, patience, as the results of assiduous
work can be seen only several decades later if the bonsai
has been grown from a seed and in four-five years time if
a tiny sapling has been used.
Bonsai differs according to the form - upright, slanting or
cascade - and according to the way of planting - group composition
or a single tree. The size of bonsai varies from several centimeters
to one meter and a half, but the most popular is a bonsai
of about 50 centimeters high.
The pot where the tree is planted is of special artistic importance.
The tree and the pot should form a single harmonious whole
where the shape, texture and color of one compliment the other.
Nowadays the art of growing dwarfed trees takes on special
significance: under the tough conditions of the city life
that is far from the naturalness it is a sort of connecting-link
between the man and the nature.
The art of bonsai is an important component of Japanese culture.
Therefore it seems strange that municipal officials haven't
organized national museum of bonsai. This injustice was repressed
several years ago when Reiji Takagi founded his own museum
of bonsai in Tokyo.
Takagi Bonsai museum occupies the last floors of the Meiko
shokai building. The building itself is not different from
an ordinary modern building where a lot of business offices
are cooped together. But the huge figures of granite guardian
dogs, sitting in front of the entrance, hint that the building
is not as ordinary as it looks from the outside. The dogs
were made about 200 years ago in China for a powerful family.
The visit to the museum is better to start from the very top
of the building. On the roof you'll discover the real Japanese
garden, surrounded by the bamboo hedge. In the center of a
small pond five needle pines named "Chiyo-no-matsu"
grow. These are more than 100 years old. On the wooden shelving
about 500 bonsai masterpieces of all possible types and forms
are exhibited.
On the 8 - 9th floors permanent exhibition of the Ukiyoe is
held. Ukiyoe is a trend in Japanese fine arts. Originally,
Ukiyoe denoted one of the main buddhistic categories and was
translated as a "floating world". At the end of
the 17th century this conception was used to signify earthly
blessings and pleasures. Ukiyoe are paintings, representing
the daily life of different townspeople of Edo period. They
were usually made by the technique of woodblock printing.
All of exhibited Ukiyoe are somehow connected with the art
of bonsai.
The sixth floor is meant for the temporary exhibitions, changing
every Monday. Weekly the staff of the museum chooses bonsai
compositions that reflect best of all the mood of the certain
season and weather.
The tearoom is combined with the library and the cinema hall.
Here you can get any information on the bonsai art, watch
the cassettes with the process of creating a new masterpiece
and acknowledged masters of bonsai art at work. Besides, you
can buy miniature bonsais that are sold in the tearoom and
to take home a small world of beauty that would inspire you
for many years.
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