Born in 1941, Mr. Takeyama began learning bonsai from his father upon graduation from high school. When his father passed away in 1979, he became the second owner of Fuyo-en, one of the premier bonsai nurseries in Omiya Village outside of Tokyo. Fuyo-en's website is at: http://fuyo-en-hp.hp.infoseek.co.jp/

Mr. Takeyama is well-known as a "Zoki Bonsai" artist (Zoki Bonsai means bonsai using deciduous trees). He is particularly good at Yose-ue (forest style), and his yose-ue bonsai are exhibited at the Kokufu-ten annual exhibit in Tokyo in February. He has published many books about bonsai, and he is very eager to make bonsai more popular by serving as a lecturer on NHK TV program "Hobby Bonsai."

In 2003, Mr. Takeyama became the third Chairman of the Nippon Bonsai Association (NBA), succeeding Saburo Kato in this prestigious position. He also has served as a Director of NBA, the Executive Director of the Nippon Bonsai Growers Cooperative, and as the Chairman of the Steering Committee of Kokufu-ten.