Since 1999 Japan Air Lines (JAL) has invited bonsai enthusiasts from around the world to submit their bonsai entries by photo; the contest is open to all countries, excluding Japan. From these entries, the best trees are chosen by the board members of the Nipon Bonsai Association and Japan Bonsai Growers Cooperative, and are exhibited at the JAL World Bonsai Fair.

As in previous years, members of the Toronto Bonsai Society participated in the Japanese Air Lines Bonsai Contest 2001. Bonsai enthusiasts from all over the world are encouraged to submit pictures of their trees; the 100 most worthy are picked by a panel of four Japanese judges and their pictures are displayed at the Japanese Bonsai Exhibition Taikanten. The Toronto Bonsai Society placed eight submissions in the final 100, and Canada in total placed ten. That compares to 19 finalists from the US, 10 from India, 7 from Taiwan, 6 from Germany, 4 from Indonesia and Singapore, 2 from Italy and only 1 each from England, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand and France. I think we did rather well.

The photos were taken at our Spring Show. Here are the pictures of the eight Toronto finalists. Congratulations for a job well done. Let's make it 16 finalists next year!

German Myrtle, styled by Bob Fisher	Hawthorn, styled by Bob Wilcox
Larch, styled by Grace Wicht	Japanese Maple, styled by John Biel
White Cedar, styled by Paul Chong	Buckthorn, styled by Reiner Goebel
Procumbens Nana, styled by Rudy Wicht	Privet, styled by Tony Welch