Hello, I’m Aiko

I live in a small apartment in Kyoto with a balcony just wide enough for a shelf. On it are five tiny trees: a juniper, two maples, a pine and an elm, the oldest given to me by my grandmother. I have kept bonsai for fifteen years and I have lost a few trees along the way, which is how I learned most of what I know.

Now I teach it. The letters are written on the balcony, in plain words, and follow the trees through the year. What I sell are the things I wished I had at the start: a calendar of the year’s jobs, sheets to practise wiring on paper, a log for each tree, a workbook for your first one and two video courses. I do not sell trees. I teach you to look after your own.