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Japanese bonsai courses in Vicenza
Take a bonsai course inside a plant nursery in Vicenza
A specialist school inside Garden Schio, where students learn to cultivate bonsai in the Japanese tradition.
At Garden Schio, a plant nursery in the province of Vicenza, Scuola d’Arte Bonsai Schio runs courses in traditional Japanese bonsai. Experienced growers and instructors teach the cultivation and artistic development of the trees through two successive levels, each lasting two years. The school’s teaching tradition encourages working with young nursery plants, seedlings and cuttings, following their development over successive seasons.
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Opening hours, access and prices can change, and some of these places open only by arrangement. Please check with the place before you travel.
→ Bonsai courses inside Garden Schio
The school holds its courses within Garden Schio, a plant nursery at Via Ponte d’Oro 22 in Schio, north of Vicenza. Its programme combines the cultivation of living trees with the artistic principles of traditional Japanese bonsai, taught by experienced practitioners and instructors. Students enrol for sustained study, with two successive levels lasting two years each.
→ Bonsai courses inside: The Japanese idea of kūkan yūbi, the beauty of empty space.
In this teaching tradition, you learn to look at the spaces between the branches as carefully as the branches themselves. The Japanese idea of kūkan yūbi, the beauty of empty space, can depend on moving a single small branch: suddenly the gap beside it becomes part of the composition. An account of Japanese teacher Keizo Ando’s approach, published by the school, recommends beginning with young nursery trees, seedlings or cuttings. He encouraged students to examine the trunk and branches from below, considering the proportions of a small tree as carefully as those of a mature specimen in nature. The emphasis is on growing and developing the tree over time.
→ Wabi sabi
The curriculum also introduced wabi sabi, the beauty of age and imperfection, bunjin, the sparse literati style inspired by Chinese ink painting, and the relationship between bonsai, Zen and Japanese garden aesthetics. According to a former student who documented the programme, Suzuki was the first in Europe to introduce these subjects as dedicated bonsai courses.
→ Joining a course or arranging a shorter visit
For course enrolment, email the school with your experience and ask about the next intake, lesson dates, fees and materials. Anyone spending only a few days in Vicenza should ask specifically about forthcoming demonstrations, exhibition visits or whether attendance at an individual session can be arranged. Confirm the activity and teaching language before travelling.
School: Scuola d’Arte Bonsai Schio APS
Location: Inside Garden Schio plant nursery
Address: Via Ponte d’Oro 22, 36015 Schio, province of Vicenza, Italy
Course and visit enquiries: bonsaischio@gmail.com.