During my student years, I took up mountaineering and came to realize that vegetation untouched by human hands survives only in a limited number of places, such as high-altitude regions and remote mountain areas. I gradually became fascinated by the “primeval forest”—the natural forms created within stable, untouched ecosystems that unfold in places beyond human footsteps.
The fact that a world in which all living organisms maintain a delicate balance with one another continues its quiet existence in places beyond human intervention gave me a glimpse of the formidable, hidden face of plants and forests. I began to feel a deep sense of awe and reverence toward nature.
This experience sparked a growing interest in plants and vegetation. Later, when I happened to encounter a bonsai exhibition at Ueno Park for the first time, I was struck by the trees I saw there. Their forms seemed to distill everything that had left a lasting impression on me in the trees I had encountered in the mountains.
Bonsai, in which a deep forest—almost as if one had stepped into a forbidden realm—is expressed and refined as a work of art within the confines of a pot, completely overturned the old and somewhat stagnant image I had previously associated with the word “bonsai.” Rather than simply being another pinnacle of traditional horticultural culture, it appeared to me as an entirely fresh, original, and innovative world of artistic craft.
This was how my relationship with bonsai began.
For me, shohin bonsai—the small-scale form of bonsai—is an artistic expression infused with the essence of a “straightforward, earnest endeavor born of the struggle for survival—the crystallization of civilization.” It embodies the wisdom acquired by human beings as they learn to live in accordance with nature while, at times, confronting its overwhelming and untamed forces.
The world inhabited by human beings is always filled with forces that seek to return it to forest. In the natural world, where plants are the protagonists, I believe that humans are merely supporting characters, permitted to inhabit a small corner of that world. We live while constantly confronting the forces of nature that threaten to engulf us.
Even within the city, there are countless reminders of this reality if we take the time to notice them. When I see vacant lots in the city covered with pokeweed, I can perceive the first steps toward the formation of a forest. When I look at a potted tree growing vigorously, I imagine the microorganisms actively at work beneath the soil. Nature’s power and persistence are everywhere around us, even in the midst of the city.
Shohin bonsai continually awakens these sensations within me. It reminds me that I need to recover something wild within myself—that I need the strength to confront and endure the forces of nature.
I feel that bonsai, as a fusion of nature and the human sense of craftsmanship, continues to teach me this.
Kenji Kozakai
2006-
Started to learn professional Bonsai technics at Akimoto Engei, located at Kawaguchi City in Saitama.
2018-
Launched activities of perticipating to exhibitions, holding workshops, careing for customers’ trees and so on mainly in Tokyo. Still keeping to learn advanced technics at Akimoto Engei.
学生時代に登山を経験する中で、人の手が加わっていない植生が、高山帯と山地の限られた場所にしか分布していないことを知って、人跡未踏の地に広がる「手つかず」の安定した生態系で繰り広げられる自然の造形「原生林」に惹かれるようになりました。
すべての生物同士の関係が絶妙なバランスで平衡化し合う世界が、人間が関わることのできない場所で粛々と営まれている事実に、植物と森の恐るべき素顔を見た気がして、畏敬の念を持つようになりました。
この経験を発端として植物・植生への関心が日に日に高まり、後日上野公園で偶然通りかかった五月展で「盆栽」を初めて目の当たりにしたとき、自分が山中で出会った木で印象的だった部分がすべて抽出されたようなその木姿に、衝撃を受けました。
禁忌の領域に一歩足を踏み入れたような深い森が、鉢の中で作品として整えられた状態で表現された盆栽は、それまでこの単語から自分が思い描いていた、植木文化のもう一つの頂点を司る古臭く気だるいイメージを一掃して、全く目新しい独創的で革新的な技芸の世界に映りました。
自分と盆栽との関係はこのような出会いから始まります。
自分のなかで小品盆栽とは、自然に従いつつ、時に荒ぶる自然と対峙する知恵を身に着けた人の「生存をかけた真正直な営み(文明の結晶)」というエッセンスが注入された造形であると思っています。
いつでも人の住む世界は森に還ろうとする力にあふれていて、植物が主人公の自然界において、人間はその片隅に住まわせてもらっている脇役に過ぎず、飲み込まれる自然と対峙しながら暮らしている事実があると思います。
ヤマゴボウに覆われた町なかの空き地に森林化の第一歩を見ながら、青々と茂る鉢植えの木に土中の微生物が活発に活動する様子を想像したり、町の中でも自然の脅威を感じ取ろうとすればいくらでも素材は転がっています。
これらの感覚を小品盆栽はいつも呼び覚ましてくれます。自分を野生にする、戦う力が必要とされていることを、自然と人の工芸的感性の融合である盆栽が教えてくれている気がしています。