Experience
A Miniature Bonkei-Making Experience at Takamatsu Bonsai Village
Overview
The Kinashi and Kokubunji area of Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, is renowned as a major production center responsible for about 80% of Japan's pine bonsai. Takamatsu Bonsai Village serves as its showcase and information hub. In addition to touring the bonsai display grounds, visitors can take part in a “bonkei-making experience,” arranging soil, sand, stones, moss, and plants on a tray to depict a natural landscape, or a “kokedama-making experience”. For pilgrims stopping along the way, it is an opportunity to create a miniature landscape in the spirit of dogyo ninin (“two traveling together”), capturing memories of Shikoku's mountains and rivers in a work of their own.
Highlights
Unique to Takamatsu Bonsai Village, the greatest appeal of the miniature bonkei experience is the process of shaping a “living landscape” with your own hands.
・The Kinashi and Kokubunji area of Takamatsu has produced bonsai for around 200
years. As Japan's leading pine-bonsai region, it attracts enthusiasts from Japan and
abroad.
・At Takamatsu Bonsai Village, you can tour display grounds lined with everything
from miniature bonsai to trees cultivated for more than a century, observing
authentic bonsai up close before or after your workshop.
・Bonkei- and kokedama-making workshops are available for groups of five or more.
Traveling workshops can also be arranged within Kagawa Prefecture, making them
suitable for pilgrimage groups (minimum participant numbers, age requirements, and
conditions for off-site workshops apply).
By recreating on a small tray the mountains, rivers, and temple gardens seen along the pilgrimage, the story of your journey itself becomes the artwork.
Information
Please note that prices, services, and booking procedures were current at the time of writing and are subject to change.
- Nearest Temple：
- Within driving or walking distance of Temple 80, Kokubunji, on the Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage
- Duration：
- Bonkei-making workshop: approximately 90 minutes per piece
- Price：
-
Bonkei-making workshop: ¥5,200 per piece (tax included)
Kokedama-making workshop: ¥4,200 per piece (tax included)
Note: Please inquire about support in languages other than Japanese. Please confirm directly with the facility.
- Language：
- Japanese.
- Booking：
- The bonkei- and kokedama-making workshops require advance booking. The minimum group size is five, and traveling workshops within Kagawa Prefecture may be arranged upon consultation. For inquiries and reservations, contact Takamatsu Bonsai Village (Tel: 087-874-2795; 9:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m.; closed during the New Year holidays).