22nd Annual Gomangoku Show 五万石展 (Daijuen and Friends)

In December of 2012, I was fortunate enough to be a part of a large local show hosted by Daiju-en. Gomangoku is held every year and it features the trees of customers to Daiju-en, Aichien and other Bonsai family and friends. The show lasted for three days and I was wiped out after it was all over. Being the lowly apprentice and only one of two apprentices around during the setup and tear down, I had my work cut out for me. I made it through it though and was happy to see it all come together. But enough of my complaining, let get on with the show! In this post I’m going to share photos of most of the trees that were displayed, the sales area, photography and the setup. If you would like to see the 21st Gomangoku show of 2011, please click here.

As always, unloading the multiple vans filled with trees helped warmed up my body. Many of the trees were set up on this tarp temporarily while the backdrops were being built.

That same morning, photography started and I was there to help with the setup of the trees. Here’s an awesome root over rock Trident Maple being shot.

The Show

Visitors of the show were greeted by this large Black Pine. Not too shabby for an entrance tree.

Every year, the show would have a special corner with a modern design to display the trees. Pretty interesting and gives me some ideas.

On another corner of the room there is a garden display. I remember building those fences last year for the show!

A dwarf Kumquat. We need more of these as Bonsai in the U.S.

I thought this was a cool accent. The figure is made of bronze.

Here’s a Needle Juniper. Look at those big lips on the pot!

A nice twin trunk Japanese Maple

I really liked this bunjin Needle Juniper.

Very interesting Red Pine. The trunk is in the front and the foliage is behind it. Quite unique and I did a double take the first time I saw it.

Here’s a heavy and strong Trident Maple

I thought this table for the Trident was quite nice. Note the different wood used for the border and the interior. The interior wood is quince burrow.

Here’s a nice bunjin Shimpaku that was also in the last Taikan-ten.

Japanese Black Pine

Here is a cool root over rock Japanese quince.

One of the many interesting accent plants at the show.

Here is a bushy root over rock Shimpaku! We don’t see that everyday.

Here’s a big Black Pine. Very strong main branch.

A nice sharp Needle Juniper

Here’s a cool crabapple. Many times people don’t believe me when I tell them this is a crabapple because the apples are so small. I wonder what they taste like?

Bunjin White Pine.

Impressive Princess Persimmon. Tons of fruit! Trust me, the fruit taste terrible…

Here’s a big White Pine.

Here’s a pretty awesome old Black Pine. This tree will make an appearance in Kokufu-ten this year.

There’s always one display row that is made extra deep to hold the biggest trees in the show.

I like this triple trunk White Pine. Very old.

Can you tell which of these fruits were attached by hand on this Chinese Quince? 😉 I like the fruit on the right that looks like it’s barely hanging on.

Hey, I know this tree! This Shimpaku will be making an appearance at this years Kokufu-ten show as well. 😀

Here’s a closer look at the Trident root over rock. I’ve de-foliated this tree a couple of times in the past. Quite old and developed.

A beautifully created Beech! For those that are in the know, you know who made this tree. 😉

Check out the awesome root spread on this tree! Nicely done!

Here is a famous Black Pine. It won the Kokufu prize in the past. Now it’s hanging out enjoying retirement.

I would have to say that this was the heaviest tree in the entire show! My back will never forget this tree. 😉

Here’s a nice twin trunk White Pine. I’m developing more of an appreciation for multi-trunk trees these days.

Here’s what half of the show looks like from above. There’s Mr. Tanaka on the bottom left keeping busy. 😉

Another interesting accent

And another interesting accent!

Here’s a tight little shohin Black Pine. For those of you who don’t know, Shohin refers to the size of the Bonsai. The Shohin size is maxed at 8 inches or 20 centimeters.

A very nice Japanese Quince. The pot it’s in is Tofukuji; a highly valued and collected Japanese pot maker.

I thought this accent was cool!

Here is an interesting root over rock Japanese Maple.

Another sharp Needle Juniper!

Here’s a small multi-trunk Gardenia.

Here’s a twin trunk Japanese Maple

Big semi-cascading White Pine

Here’s a pretty cool Needle Juniper.

This is a big White Pine.

Nice three-point display of a clump japanese quince (left) and semi-cascading needle juniper (right).

Japanese Black Pine

Here’s a nice multi-trunk Japanese Maple.

This was one of my favorite Needle Junipers in the show.

Here’s a fun three-point display. Both trees are princess persimmons. Apparently, this particular customer loves them and has hundreds of them in his collection.

That is one massive Satsuki Azalea.

Some of the few stones that were at the show. Very interesting.

Beech with some of the brown leaves still attached.

Multi-trunk White Pine

Dwarf Jasmine. This tree was in last years Kokufu-ten

Another nice accent plant.

A forest of Zelkova

The one and only Camellia in the show.

I wish we had some tables like this back in the US.

Sales Area

The sales area for Gomangoku isn’t large but there were some interesting things for sale. See anything you like?

I thought these natural root stands were pretty cool.

More sales area stuff. That’s Mr. Mitsuya on the right there.

There’s Mr. Fujiwara setting up his sales area.

Here’s some of the Aichien trees for sale.

I lightly cleaned up this big Black pine for the sale. Mr. Tanaka wants 17,000 dollars for it. Any takers?

Here’s a Needle Juniper that Daiju-en was selling. No where near completed but what awesome material to work with. I like the deadwood features!

Well there you have it, another year another show. I hope you all enjoyed the tour of the 22nd annual Gomangoku show. Perhaps one day you can come see the trees in person. What would be really cool is if you came on the setup day and helped your pal Peter put it all together. 😉 But for now, this post will have to do.

Thanks for visiting everyone!

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