The Person Behind the Trees

About Kenji Mori

I grew up watching my grandfather care for a single juniper on the porch of his home in Osaka. He never rushed it. He never forced it. He simply returned to it, season after season, with patience I didn’t understand until much later.

At 29, I moved to Kyoto to study formally under a master who had spent 40 years with trees. Three years there changed how I see time. Bonsai isn’t about making something small. It’s about making something honest.

I have been practicing for 20 years now. I teach small groups in the Pacific Northwest, and I write here for people who want to learn the craft seriously — not just keep a tree alive, but truly understand it.

This site covers the guides I wish I had at the beginning: which species to start with, how to read a tree, when to act and when to wait. No shortcuts. No hype. Just the craft, written as clearly as I can manage.

Currently caring for 23 trees, including a 40-year-old trident maple and a juniper collected from the Oregon coast.