Ryuji Kobayashi

Born in 1941, Ryuji specializes in Satsuki azalea bonsai, and is the owner of Kobayashi Sangyo Co., Ltd., a most impressive bonsai nursery and wholesaler in Kanuma City, Japan. He is Vice Chairman and Representative Director for Judgment of the Kanuma Satsuki Association, and is a Certified Instructor of the Japan Satsuki Association.

Ryuji is deeply fascinated with Satsuki bonsai. Because Satsuki azaleas come in so many different varieties of flowers and leaves, they have proven to be a wonderful subject of bonsai. Satsuki azaleas (Rhododendron indicum) originated in Kanuma City and have become a specialty of that area of Japan where Ryuji was born. Every year, Kanuma City hosts the Satsuki Matsuri (Festival) for 10 days beginning at the end of May, and this event is attended by most of the Satsuki fanciers in Japan.

Ryuji has been working with Satsuki azaleas as bonsai since the 1960s when he first fell in love with the different varieties of Satsuki. He also became an expert in the soils and other materials needed for planting and treating bonsai trees. For these reasons, he established his company to produce the Kanuma & Akadama soils together with the whole range of horticultural materials as a wholesaler.

It is Ryuji's wish that Satsuki azaleas will become the most popular species for bonsai throughout the world. In Belgium in 2004, he joined with his Belgium partner to establish a Satsuki Exhibition, and in the future he is looking forward to holding Exhibitions of Satsuki in many different places around the world.