Kobayashi Kunio has become the new leader of the Japanese School of Keido. Kobayashi was formally inducted as the third House Master (Iemoto 家元 in Japanese) of Keido and given the title Kobayashi Ichiu (一雨) on November 6, 2022. The retiring second House Master, Sudo Uhaku (雨伯), conducted the ceremony at Chikufu-en, Sudo’s beautiful residence and garden in Tochigi prefecture. In an interview at Kobayashi’s bonsai museum and nursery in late November, he said he felt humbled by this new responsibility and would have to study more to earn his new title Kobayashi Ichiu. In the meantime, Kobayashi uses his Keido House Master name as Ippu (一風). 

Keido was established in 1986 by Katayama Teiichi to promote Japanese sensibilities through artful displays in the traditional tokonoma utilizing various techniques of open space. Katayama’s keen interest in Japanese art and culture helped him to prepare for his role in promoting methods of display that appealed to the Japanese sense of beauty, refined elegance, and subtle beauty. He appears to have incorporated elements from the traditional tea ceremony developed by the 16th-century tea master Sen no Rikyu, who introduced the concept of wabi into the tea ceremony. Katayama developed sets of rules for the display of bonsai, wildflowers, grasses, and suiseki in tokonoma. Seasonality is important in Keido and tokonoma displays should reflect the seasons—spring, summer, fall, and winter. Both Sudo and Kobayashi were students of Katayama when his school was first established. To learn more about The Katayama School, of Keido (click here) and see the English language book review of the Katayama School of Keido in 2018. Videos of the induction ceremony can be seen on Shunkaen Bonsai Museum in Facebook. The return to traditional methods of the display using open space has appealed to many bonsai and suiseki connoisseurs in Japan and many other countries.