Minoru AKIYAMA grew up in the Akiyama Bonsai-en nursery of his father. After high school he completed 6 years apprenticeship at the Shunkaen Bonsai Museum of master Kunio Kobayashi.

Before his age of 30 he had already received the highest bonsai awards (Prime Ministers award at the Kokufu, and the Taisho award at the Kojuten exhibition).

Minoru AKIYAMA is working on a broad variety of bonsai. Not only conifers and deciduous trees, but he has also big expertise in Satsuki and shohin.

Apart from his work in his own nursery, he gives lessons to new students, and he is an active speaker and demonstrator on Japanese and international bonsai meetings.

Ryan NEIL was born near the wild nature of the Rocky Mountains.

After six years of intensive study with Mr. Masahiko Kimura, he returned to Portland, Oregon, where he founded ‘Bonsai Mirai’.  As a bonsai professional and a visual artist, he brings bonsai to a level of fine art.  According to Ryan, the art of bonsai reflects the relationship between nature, culture and individual human beings. He shares his knowledge to achieve this to local bonsai enthusiasts and worldwide by his demonstrations, workshops and on line.

He was the initiator of The Artisans Cup in Portland, a major successful bonsai exhibition which set very high standards to American bonsai.

His bonsai compositions express the vast array of landscapes that people can recognize. It inspires a lot of us to proceed in this form of art. By following the live streams of Mirai Live we are now able to learn from him immediately all over the world.

Mauro STEMBERGER was fascinated by bonsai from the age of 14. He joined the local bonsai club in Feltre, his birthplace. During his studies of architecture he followed a lot of courses and workshop by international bonsai masters. He graduated as architect in 2006 and started working in his own town.

He founded the Italian Bonsai Dream school , and he has written several articles in international journals.

From 2008 he is a recognized BCI bonsai instructor. He was president of the UBI from 2008 till 2010.

Currently, Mauro is giving demonstrations and workshops for a lot of organisations all over the world.  His creations can often be seen on social media.

Tony TICKLE has been working with bonsai since 1983 and was trained under the stewardship of master Takeo Kawabe.

He has demonstrated at several major conferences across the world. His trees have won major prizes as the Ginkgo Award in 1997, and the Best Deciduous Bonsai at the Noelanders Trophy 2017.

On several occasions he has promoted bonsai as an art form in its own right. He has experimented with new presentations, in unusual locations, but always with the intention to bring bonsai as an art as close to the public as possible.  His preference for native European trees helps the general public to see the art of bonsai as natural in stead of artificial.  

As a demonstrator he is also appreciated for his entertaining style, which we all will enjoy.

Alexandre Escudero is into bonsai since 20 years. In 2014 he was seduced by the beauty of shohin and kifu during his first trip to Japan.  Every year thereafter he and the group Kazoku have invited bonsai master Hiroyuki Tanibata (Syouka-en bonsai garden) to France for a workshop on shohin.

During ‘The Trophy 2020’ himself and the group Kazoku will present ten new presentations of shohin, kifu and chuhin bonsai.

Luigi Maggioni studied bonsai since 1992. He followed courses with Salvatore Liporace, Hideo Suzuki and several other bonsai masters. He received the diploma of ‘Istruttore’ at the Japanese Hamano School. He has organised the first European Shohin exhibition in 2013, and his tree won a lot of prizes in different international exhibitions (Ben Oki 2000, UBI 2003, Shohin Crespi Cup etc …)

Luigi confessed that bonsai has changed his world, as this form of art brought him serenity and keeps his mind young.