Suzuki’s 2010 Prime Minister Award Juniper

My teacher’s juniper from the 2010 Sakafu show has been my favorite since it first came into his studio in 2006, and I was in my last year apprenticing there. The delicacy and naturalness of this meter-high tree has always left me spellbound.

He had clients calling him nonstop asking about it, one of them was so insistent he called a couple times a day, wanting to buy this tree. But Suzuki was determined to save this tree for the Sakafu, and waited and trained it four years before entering it in the professional show. Some of you may remember this tree from photos in my book Post-Dated: The Schooling of an Irreverent Bonsai Monk.