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The early ones are VERY difficult to find. I use to be a rare book dealer and still search for hard to find books for people (and myself - I have a good collection of hard to find bonsai books) and know that the_old_ ones are rarely seen and very hard to find, even in Japan. Bill Valavanis, who has the very BEST collection of bonsai books - probably in the West (never mind the US) - is still looking for a few of the very old ones. I have a few book contacts in japan and still have not found many.
but RockM is correct that the newer ones (45+) are usually on ebay on a regular basis. With the more international flavor of ebay, there are many Japanese sellers posting them there - so keep your eyes open (along with the rest of us!).
John Romano
"In order to create art of your own time, there's no simple formula. You just have to keep working at it while you are doing it. You feel you must make something quite different from anything you have ever seen. This does not mean that you malign the past; you perpetuate the good points of the old style and in addition you try to produce something even better. That is the mission of those who respect their era. Bonsai, which is a legacy for the generations to come, must not be a mere repetition of the past. Then the achievement of the generation before us will be meaningless... Bonsai is a very difficult art and if someone asks for a simple formula for it, you cannot give it. In the case of a painting, when the picture is finished it is completed and stabilized. But in the case of bonsai, it will always be changing. It's a perpetual motion. How skillfully you can manage this changing object is the problem. Of course, this very problem provides us with a challenge and enjoyment as well. I always strive to free myself of a set bonsai style. To express it radically, even opposite or wheel formation branches should be made into a pleasing form without undue stress. Yet there are no set rules for doing it. Nature creates far more mysterious things than man's imagination can come up with. So if you take in interesting forms of nature into the world of bonsai, it will be a great help to those who aspire to learn the technique."

~ Saichi Suzuki, Daiju-en (Okazaki, Japan)

20-Oct-2005	#3
bunjingi bonsaiTALK Journeyman Join Date: Sep-2002 Location: west kingston Country: usa USDA Zone: 6a/6b AHS Heat Zone: ? Posts: 44	The early ones are VERY difficult to find. I use to be a rare book dealer and still search for hard to find books for people (and myself - I have a good collection of hard to find bonsai books) and know that the_old_ ones are rarely seen and very hard to find, even in Japan. Bill Valavanis, who has the very BEST collection of bonsai books - probably in the West (never mind the US) - is still looking for a few of the very old ones. I have a few book contacts in japan and still have not found many. but RockM is correct that the newer ones (45+) are usually on ebay on a regular basis. With the more international flavor of ebay, there are many Japanese sellers posting them there - so keep your eyes open (along with the rest of us!). John Romano "In order to create art of your own time, there's no simple formula. You just have to keep working at it while you are doing it. You feel you must make something quite different from anything you have ever seen. This does not mean that you malign the past; you perpetuate the good points of the old style and in addition you try to produce something even better. That is the mission of those who respect their era. Bonsai, which is a legacy for the generations to come, must not be a mere repetition of the past. Then the achievement of the generation before us will be meaningless... Bonsai is a very difficult art and if someone asks for a simple formula for it, you cannot give it. In the case of a painting, when the picture is finished it is completed and stabilized. But in the case of bonsai, it will always be changing. It's a perpetual motion. How skillfully you can manage this changing object is the problem. Of course, this very problem provides us with a challenge and enjoyment as well. I always strive to free myself of a set bonsai style. To express it radically, even opposite or wheel formation branches should be made into a pleasing form without undue stress. Yet there are no set rules for doing it. Nature creates far more mysterious things than man's imagination can come up with. So if you take in interesting forms of nature into the world of bonsai, it will be a great help to those who aspire to learn the technique." ~ Saichi Suzuki, Daiju-en (Okazaki, Japan)