我与盆栽的40年 | My 40 Years with Bonsai

我与盆栽的40年

Akiyama Minor-盆栽艺术家

我每天早上做的第一件事就是想想我的盆栽。我检查他们的状况，回忆我昨天做了什么，然后决定今天要做什么。这是我的日常生活，我每天都做的有点不同。即使是重复的工作，我也会尝试为我的盆栽想出新的方式和风格使其成长的过程本身成为一种艺术。我在“原始树木”上工作，在它们踏上成为“盆栽”的旅程时发挥它们的潜力。不熟悉盆栽的人，有时会以为树木受尽折磨，心疼不已。但是，我相信，如果我们创造出美丽而优美的盆栽，它们的主人会喜欢它们，并通过每天浇水和喂养它们来给予它们充分的关注。盆栽经过多年的精心呵护，就会形成鲜明的品质，并会为几代人带来生活中的幸福。创作盆栽就是在盆栽中创造艺术价值。我有一种紧迫感，除非将这些价值观传递给下一代，否则盆栽文化将会消亡。盆栽是一种精神性的景观，实际上是在一个容器中表现了自然。我们把盆栽放在我们的花园里，享受近在咫尺的季节。即使将植物放在容器中时不再“天然”，盆栽也可能活100 年。当我们通过给它们浇水和施肥来刻意关注它们时，它们可能会活200 年或更长时间。在一个容器中可以找到一个小宇宙，这是一个奇迹。

我是作为第二代盆栽艺术家出生的，在盆栽的包围下长大。在日本，人们通常将盆栽视为“老人的爱好”，他们常常对我作为盆栽艺术家的年轻程度感到惊讶。盆栽不是几天就能造出来的。将“树”变成“盆栽”需要数年时间。因此，作为年轻的盆栽艺术家有一定的优势；当您开始晚年时，制作好的盆栽可能会非常困难。盆栽需要很长时间才能得到结果。从某种意义上说，它与时代背道而驰。在几乎所有事物都认为速度很重要的现代世界中，盆栽可能存在于完全不同的时间轴上。盆栽需要时间来创造，这就是它成为一门伟大艺术的原因。

当我每天浇灌和照顾盆栽时，我有时会觉得自己比盆栽优越。它需要我生存。然而，盆栽也可以自由自然地生长。曾经有一段时间，我相信我可以打断自然生长并根据自己的喜好塑造盆栽。那时我的感情很强烈，我很不耐烦，以至于我的一些盆栽枯死了。从那时起，我学会了仔细观察盆栽的自然生长，并花时间慢慢去构造。盆栽教我如何做到这一点。

在创造盆栽 20 年后，我现在准备与盆栽一起变老并度过余生。盆栽最近在其他国家已成为一种复杂的爱好。我很高兴我的盆栽在国外被收藏，并被邀请到海外教授工作坊。人们似乎试图通过盆栽来了解日本的侘寂文化，而我们现代日本人实际上可能已经忘记了这一点。衷心希望日本人也将目光投向盆栽，在“盆中的宇宙”中找到生活的乐趣。

2019 年 3 月

My 40 Years with Bonsai

Akiyama Minor -Bonsai Artist

The first thing I do each morning is think about my Bonsai. I check their condition, remember what I did yesterday, and decide what to do today. This is my daily routine, and I do it a little differently each day. Even with repetitive tasks, I try to think of new ways and styles for my Bonsai to grow as an art form. I work on the "original trees" to bring out their potential as they begin their journey to become "Bonsai." People who are not familiar with the Bonsai sometimes think that the trees are tortured and feel sorry for them. However, I believe that if we create beautiful and graceful Bonsai, their owners will love them and give them their full attention by watering and feeding them every day. When the Bonsai is given a lot of care for many years, it will develop a distinctive quality and will lead a happy life for many generations. Composing Bonsai is to create artistic values in Bonsai. I have a sense of urgency that the Bonsai culture will die out unless these values are passed on to the next generation. Bonsai is a spiritual landscape which actually represents nature in a single container. We put the Bonsai in our garden and enjoy the season close-at-hand. Even if a plant no longer "natural" when it is put in a container, the Bonsai may live up to 100 years. Some may live 200 years or more when we give them deliberate attention by watering and fertilizing them. It is a miracle that a small universe can be found in a single container.

I was born as the second generation Bonsai artist and grew up surrounded by the Bonsai. In Japan people usually perceive Bonsai as an "'old man's hobby, " and they are often surprised to how young I am as an Bonsai artist. Bonsai cannot be created in a few days. It takes years to turn a "tree" into a "Bonsai." For the reason, there is a certain advantage to being a young Bonsai artist; it may be quite difficult to make good Bonsai when you start late in your life. Bonsai takes so long to get the result. In a sense it goes against the times. In the modern world where speed is considered important with almost everything, the Bonsai may exist in a totally different time axis. The Bonsai takes time to create, and that's why it becomes a great art.

As I water and care for the Bonsai every day, I sometimes feel like I am superior to Bonsai. It needs me to survive. Bonsai, however, can also grow freely and naturally. There was a time when I believed I could interrupt the natural growth and shape Bonsai to my liking. My feelings were strong back then, and I was so impatient that some of my Bonsai withered and died. Since then I have learned to observe the natural growth of Bonsai carefully and take time to compose it slowly. The Bonsai taught me how to do this.

After 20 years of creating Bonsai, I am now prepared to age and live the rest of my life with Bonsai. The Bonsai has recently become a sophisticated hobby in other countries. I am very happy that my Bonsai is collected in foreign countries and I am invited to teach workshops overseas. People seem to try to understand Japanese wabi-sabi culture through Bonsai, which we modern Japanese may actually be forgetting. I sincerely hope the Japanese will also turn their attention to Bonsai and find pleasure in living with "the universe in a small pot."

March 2019