Imperial Family Views 400-Year-Old Shinpaku Juniper at Centennial Kokufu Bonsai

Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and their daughter Princess Aiko visited the Kokufu-ten centennial at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Ueno Park on February 17, 2026, and toured prizewinning displays including the Kokufu Prize winning Shinpaku juniper from Itoigawa, Niigata, estimated to be 400 years old. The Emperor inquired about the judging criteria for the 'Kokufu Prize,' News On Japan reported, drawing attention from exhibitors and curators gathered for the show’s 100th edition.

The centennial edition marked 100 presentations since the first Kokufu exhibition in 1934 and was staged in a two part format at the museum: Part 1 ran February 8–11 and Part 2 ran February 14–18, 2026, with a closure on February 16. The Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, located in Ueno Park between Ueno Zoo and the Tokyo National Museum, hosted more than 200 bonsai specimens with recent editions featuring over 250 displays, and several tour operators organized special centennial trips that sold out.

News On Japan noted family interactions around the displays, writing that "It has been 18 years since Empress Masako last attended the 'Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition,' and it was Princess Aiko's first visit. Both were seen eagerly bending down to examine the bonsai closely, asking questions as they went." The report also reiterated that "Emperor Naruhito is known to have been interested in bonsai since his junior high school days," a personal connection that framed his questions about judging and composition at the show.

The Shinpaku juniper’s origin in Itoigawa and its roughly 400 year estimate stood out amid the roster of species and styles on view. Visitor documentation and historical accounts place pine and juniper among the core genera at Kokufu, alongside Japanese maple, trident maple, hinoki cypress and flowering specimens such as prunus mume and sakura. A visitor video posted by Bonsaifly on March 12, 2025 described the exhibition’s two part practice, noting "This is the second part of the exhibition, halfway through the exposition all the trees on display are completely changed out," and listed species including pine, juniper, Japanese maple, trident maple, kinzu, eleagnus, hinoki cypress, yew, kaki, flowering quince, pseudocydonia, prunus mume and sakura.

Kokufu’s history underlines why the centennial drew a packed schedule of displays and events: the first show opened in March 1934 at the Tokyo Prefectural Art Museum under Norio Kobayashi and Count Yorinaga Matsudaira and presented 96 trees. For the 100th edition the World Bonsai Friendship Federation proposed a time capsule containing images, books, tools and containers to commemorate continuity in exhibit practice and international exchange. The Imperial family’s visit on February 17, 2026, emphasized both the cultural weight of the Kokufu Prize and the ongoing public appetite for seeing centuries of cultivated material in one museum setting.