CRAFTSMANSHIPCraftsmanship
Giving form to the memory held within materials through skill.
JUME BONSAI brings together the techniques of a Bonsai Artist rooted in Japanese aesthetics
with the expression of contemporary art.
Bonsai Artist MARIKO Daisuke, who founded JUME, has spent many years working closely with living bonsai.
That is why he understands the weight of life, the meaning of time, and the emotion held in a single branch.
Neither MUKU nor SHOKEI could have been created without that knowledge and sensibility.
These are not mere imitations; they are expressions of bonsai possible only because their creator has nurtured living bonsai and witnessed the full course of their lives.
PaperTosa washi
Bonsai Artist MARIKO Daisuke selected Tosa washi (traditional Japanese handmade paper), one of Japan’s three renowned washi traditions, as a core material. Its defining quality is the irregular layering of fibers, which captures natural variation and the passage of time within the paper itself.
This subtle variation in the fibers conveys traces of life and accumulated time in a way uniform industrial materials cannot. More than a material, Tosa washi acts as a living medium that resonates with nature and lies at the heart of the world of SHOKEI.
CraftsmanshipCraftsmanship
At first glance, a bonsai after its life has ended may seem to hold only an ending. Yet the twist of the trunk, the reach of its branches, and the exposure of its roots are traces of the life it once carried—forms in which time remains inscribed.
Bonsai Artist MARIKO Daisuke reads those traces to determine the most beautiful viewing angle, then reconstructs the tree’s form and composition, reworks pruning and branch arrangement, and refines the roots, moss, and soil as JUME BONSAI MUKU.
Unlike pruning a living tree, this work demands a highly developed aesthetic eye and experience to reveal the beauty that remains after a life has come to its close.
VESSELThe Vessel
The tree alone is not yet complete.
Bonsai is completed through the union of tree and vessel. If either dominates, the balance is lost; if either lacks presence, the work loses definition. Even the same tree can reveal an entirely different character when placed in a different vessel.
We use authentic vessels fired specifically for bonsai.
The density of the clay, the texture of the fired surface, the rise of the rim, and the placement of the feet all matter. Their weight feels different in the hand, and their presence changes once set in place.
Because these vessels are structured to support trees over many years,
they can truly receive and frame the form of the bonsai.
The criteria change with every tree. We read the trunk, branching, and overall form to determine the vessel’s shape, depth, and color.
If the tree flows to the right, the visual weight is placed to the left. If the trunk is powerful, the vessel steps back quietly. There is no fixed formula; each choice is guided by an eye trained through years of working with bonsai.