From the perspective of a bonsai's lifespan, the time a person spends with it is no more than a single moment — and yet the commitment is to engage fully, and pass each tree on to the next generation in its finest form. These are the convictions etched into Koji Hiramatsu's 35 years in bonsai: the resolve of a craftsman, a deep devotion to the presence of a great tree, and a quiet dedication to passing the craft on.
The time we are given with a tree is, from the tree's perspective, no more than a single fleeting moment. For a bonsai that lives on for a hundred, two hundred years, an encounter with one human being is like a brief detour along a much longer journey.
And so the question becomes: how do we live that 'moment'? To tend to a living thing with full devotion, and pass it on to the next generation in its finest condition — Sensei has quietly taken that on as a calling. Watching his hands at work, the weight of those words settles in slowly, but surely.
At the heart of what Sensei seeks in bonsai is a quality he calls the presence of a great tree. Even planted in a small pot, the tree should carry the atmosphere of an ancient giant standing deep in the mountains. It should give the viewer the sensation of standing before something vast. That is one measure of beauty — the place where accumulated skill, at last, arrives.
So how does one get there? Study the work of those who are skilled. Imitate it precisely. Look, imitate, then look again. It is through that repetition, repeated slowly, that the hands begin to remember. There is no shortcut.
The bonsai profession is a test of skill alone. In a world where technique is the only measure, striving for the highest level is the true calling of a craftsman — and that clear, quiet resolve lives in every word Sensei speaks.
His reason for starting an online school is an extension of that same resolve. Technique cannot be passed on unless it can be seen. Recording each movement on film, showing it with precision — that is the first step in transmission.
There is an expression: Shu-Ha-Ri — follow, break, transcend. First, follow. Receive the form, and imitate the work of those who are skilled, precisely. This is not mere copying; it is the act of drawing into your own hands the wisdom that has been built up over a long, long time.
The time any one person spends with bonsai is only a moment in those trees' long lives. Knowing that, and yet engaging fully — passing each tree on to the next person in the best possible condition. What runs quietly beneath Sensei's words, I think, is exactly that kind of resolve: still, and yet utterly unshakeable.
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