Starting Year: 2020;
Provenance: Italy;
Container: Ceramic Pot;
Source: Collected.

Style: Hokidachi;
Height: 35cm;
Nebari: 4cm;
Age: 5 years old.

This Acer platanoides (Norway maple) represents the long patience and quiet pride of growing a bonsai entirely from seed. Now seven years old, this tree has been cultivated by hand since its very first leaf—witnessing each season, shaping its own rhythm, and growing alongside its keeper.

Trained in the elegant Hokidachi (broom) style, the tree is developing a classic, symmetrical canopy that radiates outward like a hand-held broom, with fine branching and a natural, upright grace. Its form reflects order and balance, while the roughness of age slowly begins to show in the bark and base.

Now growing in a handmade ceramic pot, the tree has reached a new stage of refinement. The choice of container—earthy and tactile—enhances the tree’s story: simple beginnings, slow dedication, and a maturing sense of aesthetic harmony.

This maple may not have the prestige of ancient collected material, but its value lies in something quieter and more personal. It is a tree that’s been with us from the very beginning—a long-term companion shaped by time, care, and vision. A seedling turned structure, idea turned form.