My first weekend in Japan was reserved for an old friend. Jeff and I worked together at RSA years ago, and he’d hosted me on my very first trip to Japan back in 2015. The moment I told him I was coming, he insisted on clearing his weekend — and had the perfect idea: a drive out to Mt. Fuji.

We left Tokyo and hit heavy traffic almost immediately — which, in hindsight, was a gift. It gave us hours to properly catch up after so many years apart. Slowly the city melted away into mountains and trees, and the scenery turned beautiful.

But as we got closer to Fuji, the clouds rolled in thick. No mountain views today. Time for Plan B — and you can probably guess what that meant for me.

A quick search turned up Taishoen, a nursery in the area. Jeff, ever the connector, called ahead to make sure it was okay for us to drop by.

Taishoen Nursery — A Quick Highlight
Taishoen is renowned for its shohin-sized bonsai and sits right at the foot of Mt. Fuji in Shizuoka. These days it’s run by Taiga Urushibata — son of the legendary Nobuichi Urushibata — who apprenticed under Kimura himself. Taiga speaks fluent English and welcomes foreign students for multi-month study programs, which come highly recommended.

What we found was nothing like I expected — a surprisingly large, state-of-the-art nursery I’d had no idea existed, tucked away in a part of Japan I hadn’t even planned to visit. Some of the best moments are the ones you don’t plan.

Taiga welcomed us warmly and gave us a full tour — stunning trees, and pots that stopped me in my tracks. One in particular: a Bigei. I called Shai on the spot for a second opinion. His answer left no room for debate: “Take it. Price doesn’t matter — it’s a Bigei. Take it.” So I did.

Jeff and I spent a couple of hours wandering the nursery — for him, it was his first time stepping into this world, and his curiosity about my new obsession was obvious. Don’t be surprised if BonsaiNomad gets a guest contributor someday.

We drove back to Tokyo as the light faded — tomorrow, back to work with the team in Japan. But the weekend had already given me more than I bargained for: an old friendship renewed, a hidden gem of a nursery, and a Bigei pot I’ll treasure for years.