Small potted bamboos with colorful strips of paper are prepared in Toyonaka, Osaka, for sale as Tanabata displays at shops and homes.
The Osaka Flower Gardening Wholesale Market and a flower farmer in Itami, Hyogo Prefecture, are marketing potted short bamboos to be displayed with strips of paper hanged to write wishes for the traditional Tanabata star festival on July 7.
They plan to sell about 300 pots this year, ten times as many as five years ago when they first began selling such bamboos. They hope the bamboos, as well as being used for shop decorations, will become more popular as displays at homes, as they can be displayed even in a limited space.
The plants, developed jointly by the Osaka market and flower farm Baika-en, come in pots sized from 12 to 21 centimeters and the smallest bamboo is about 50 centimeters high. Usually, bamboo plants come in pots sized over 24 centimeters and are around 1.5 meters high.
The plants are either fish pole bamboos or black bamboos, and the producers selected pot design and tree shapes that match both Japanese and western-style rooms. Unlike cut bamboo branches which are usually sold for the Tanabata star festival, potted bamboos do not wither easily so they can be enjoyed as indoor greenery even after the festival.
Baika-en planted in a pot three bamboo trees with different heights to create a three-dimensional effect. “It is a style used in ikebana flower arrangement to express a triangular shape,” said Baika-en’s Takashi Kubo, 45. “Since we are originally a bonsai grower, we care much about creating a well-balanced design.”
The plants are sold from June until the end of July. When they first marketed the plants in 2008, they only sold 30 to 40 pots, but this year they grew 400 pots, taking into consideration losses of about 20%. They plan to sell them in Tokyo as well as in Osaka this year. The average size is priced 2,100 yen. “Potted bamboos of such a small size have not been available,” said Hideto Hirosawa of the Osaka wholesale market. “We hope people can enjoy the festive mood of Tanabata even if they don’t have a large space.”
(June 20, 2013)