Shinpaku Koromogae Progress

[KayaMooney]

One of the many things I was looking forward to about studying in Japan before I came was finding a nice Tosho or Sonare juniper to graft and change to Itogawa foliage during the duration of my apprenticeship. Well, a few days ago I found that special tree and am quite excited! Creating this thread to track its progress over the next few years. Enjoy the photos .
Future front before changing the angle.


Side shot.


Back shot.


Closeup shot.


Side shot.


Possible new front after changing the angle. This makes the jin less parallel to the ground and also
gives the tree much needed flow.


Closeup of some excellent yamadori shari and jin

 

[KayaMooney]

And before it gets brought up yes this tree has many great angles and sides but the intended future front was chosen with my Senpai Naoki Maeoka because most others sides tend to look a bit like a tanuki and to some degree a bit pigeon breasted. Thanks.

 

[just.wing.it]

Wow that is a gorgeous specimen there.
I like it, and don't think it looks like Tanuki

 

[Cajunrider]

One of the many things I was looking forward to about studying in Japan before I came was finding a nice Tosho or Sonare juniper to graft and change to Itogawa foliage during the duration of my apprenticeship. Well, a few days ago I found that special tree and am quite excited! Creating this thread to track its progress over the next few years. Enjoy the photos . View attachment 237086
Future front before changing the angle.

View attachment 237087
Side shot.

View attachment 237088
Back shot.

View attachment 237089
Closeup shot.

View attachment 237090
Side shot.

View attachment 237091
Possible new front after changing the angle. This makes the jin less parallel to the ground and also
gives the tree much needed flow.

View attachment 237092
Closeup of some excellent yamadori shari and jin

Beautiful! I am looking forward to seeing the progression.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Love it! With the burl deadwood, and the small needle size, I’d have a hard time changing the foliage to Itoigawa...as much as I love Itoigawa! Looking forward to updates.

 

[KayaMooney]

Love it! With the burl deadwood, and the small needle size, I’d have a hard time changing the foliage to Itoigawa...as much as I love Itoigawa! Looking forward to updates.

Brian, thank you for the kind words. Here is a deeper explanation I gave on my instagram page that dives into the issues and my feelings on grafting this particular tree.

 

[Dav4]

Living the dream, Kaya! What a great piece of material to work with. I agree with Brian that tosho foliage, tightened up, is hard to beat on a trunk like this... except, maybe, with itoigawa. Looking forward to seeing this one in the future.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Toshos are much less common here than shimpakus, even Itoigawas. I'd have a hard time changing the foliage on this tree... but at the same time am looking forward to seeing what you do with it!

 

[KayaMooney]

Toshos are much less common here than shimpakus, even Itoigawas. I'd have a hard time changing the foliage on this tree... but at the same time am looking forward to seeing what you do with it!

It's partially my personal preference, 9/10 times I enjoy itogawa more than tosho as far as the maintenance, aesthetic and work goes but the other half is the longterm investment. After I graft and make this tree with itogawa the value will increase by about 3-4x. This tree will be sold once it is grafted and ready for kokufu or taikan ten .