Tanuki or not ?

Rock Chester

Yes absolutly or why would you ask, eh huh huh got ya.


put us out of this misery plezzzzzze

Advertisement

Will_Heath

Judging only on gut feeling, I would say Tanuki.


Will

greerhw

It's a Tanuki but one of the best I've seen. It would'nt bother me to have it in my collection, except I couldn't keep it looking that good.

Harry

RonMartin(deceased)

Judging by the location you gave us it was an easy choice. A lot of shops in Japan have a Tanuki in front of them.
Interesting and fun reading about the history of the Tanuki ;o)

greerhw

Why would a Japanese shop opt for a Tanuki instead of the real deal? Price?

Harry

RonMartin(deceased)

Tradition. Do a Google search on Tanuki ;o)

rockm

This is an obvious tanuki to me, but it's a good one. The swirling trunk doesn't really match the perfect foliage, which is concentrated in a central area and not distributed across the plant. When you see small blobs of perfect shimpaku--which is usually the graft--among wide sweeping shari, it's usually a tanuki.

It's definitely a tanuki if the plant is placed unattended in front of a shop .

History:

http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/tanuki.shtml

Joanie

So it's a tanuki because Tanuki creatures are associated with bars and restaurants, etc... they "beckon" customers in with their sake bottle and unpaid bill....

and I always thought those were it's feet....

live and learn.

Joanie

__________________

randyclark

It is a shimpaku juniper badly in need of a hair cut. Whether it is a tanuki or not is impossible to say without the ability to closely inspect the trunk and deadwood. It is the general (not always) custom to make sure a portion of the trees life line is visible from the viewing front. That dosen't seem to be the case here. I suspect that it is not a tanuki, since the Japanese don't usually put them out for public exhibition. Tanuki in Japan is considered "fun" but not "serious" bonsai. It has not been trimmed in some time and is now turning back into a big green beach ball with deadwood. It was probably a pricey tree at one time and the koi dealer bought it because he could afford it, but dosen't have the skill to keep it pruned out and looking the way it should. Nice tree though. I would love to give it a trim... betcha there is all kinds of really neet stuff in there.