Julian Tsai - Apprenticeship in Japan

Julian Tsai sent me some information regarding his training in Japan.   I felt it was most informative and it gave us a window into what an apprenticeship looked like.  Therefore, I am sending this information out prior to the workshop he gave us earlier this month

My formal training in bonsai was through an apprenticeship under Keiichi Fujikawa at Fujikawa Kouka-en nursery located in Osaka, JP. The apprenticeship model has no direct equivalent in the US. Some cultural value sets in Japan make this a difficult question to answer. There is an intrinsic social and age hierarchy in how you extend respect, as well as how you interact and address others. You extend the benefit of the doubt, impose yourself very little, and should have no entitlement especially as an apprentice. Your boss in the apprenticeship model is referred to as "Oyakata" which in literal definition means "parent direction." The relation is less akin to a boss as we may see in corporate America, but that of a stern parent. 

I spent 2 years working in Japan working in this professional nursery, working about 8-12 hours a day (depending on seasonality, exhibitions, as well as weather events like typhoons) and taking 2 days off a month. It is expected that you should be diligent, pay close attention to work being done, and infer knowledge on your own. There is not much literal or direct teaching being conducted, but you may receive knowledge from other senior apprentices. Work is variable to what needs to be done, such as repotting, seasonal foliage maintenance, as well as wiring and styling of trees. 

Apprentices at this nursery lived in their own apartments off site and could use their off hours and days off at their discretion. Typically I just caught up on errands or did local trips to hike and visit shrines.