Vol#5 Bonsai in The Little Prince

Vol #5   Written by Yusuke Ogawa

Today I want to talk about the book The Little Prince and how it relates to bonsai. Have you ever read this book, The Little Prince? It's a bestseller from France very popular all over the world.

This is a passage from the book:
"It's the time you spent on your rose that makes your rose so important."

The following is a brief description of what kind of scene appears in, along with the story told by the book.

Brief Story

When the prince was on his own star, he lived with a beautiful rose.
The prince loved this rose, which is the only one that blooms on that star. He told himself he would take care of the roses every day so that it can keep growing.
However, the rose became more and more selfish and began to bother the prince.

The prince, who was disgusted by this, left the rose and jumped out of his own star to travel. He visited several stars and eventually landed on Planet Earth.

Countless roses were in bloom on the earth.Each rose was more luxurious and beautiful than "his rose" that the little prince left on his star.
But something was different ...

That is when a fox the little prince befriended on the earth said to him the quote I mentioned before: "It's the time you spent on your rose that makes your rose so important."

The fox's words make the prince aware.It was a rose that bothered him, but it was because he took good care of it.
For the prince, it had become irreplaceable and special.
There are many gorgeous and beautiful roses, but for the prince, "his rose" had the more value.

And the prince returned to his star to his irreplaceable rose.

What is the "rose" in your life?

It's easy to forget when you live a busy life, but time is not infinite. That's why what you spend your time creating irreplaceable special value around you.This applies not only to relationships with family and friends, but also to work and hobbies.

And I feel that it also applies to bonsai. In today's world where the main goal is progressing quickly, we do not tend to take time and make efforts. That is way bonsai can be a unique thing to you, something irreplaceable.

I think one of the most interesting things of bonsai is that it can create such invisible but important value. It is time consuming, but it is very rewarding and you are creating something of your own. I feel such things the same way as described in The Little Prince. It is the time I spent with them.

And for you, what is the "rose" in your life?

Mr. Ogawa (owner of reBonsai, collaborator of Wazakura Japan)