# Shohin display shelves

**URL:** <https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/shohin-display-shelves/1381>\
**Category:** Design\
**Created:** [July 25, 2018, 5:03pm UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/shohin-display-shelves/1381 "2018-07-25T17:03:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![trent.strum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@trent.strum](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/u/trent.strum)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 5:03pm UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/shohin-display-shelves/1381/1 "2018-07-25T17:03:52Z")

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I stumbled into some beautiful live edge cedar planks and am thinking about building a shohin display shelve like the ones used for a 5-point display. I am trying to determine dimensions but I wanted to use just the standard size used in traditional displays as a starting point and then adjusting as needed from there. I realize that it can vary but was wondering if there was a general range used? Maybe the kokafu has a guideline that could be used as a starting point? Any ideas?

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**Author:** ![Mike\_Hennigan](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/forum.bonsaimirai.com/mike_hennigan/32/297_2.png) [@Mike\_Hennigan](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/u/Mike_Hennigan)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 5:32pm UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/shohin-display-shelves/1381/2 "2018-07-25T17:32:22Z")

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I might be totally wrong on this but  
I don’t think the Kokafu really accepts shohins into the show, unless they are serving the purpose of an accent to a larger tree. So i’m not sure if the Kokafu is the best place to look for photos of shohin displays. There is another show in Japan that is the the biggest show for strictly shohin, but I can’t remember what it is called.

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**Author:** ![trent.strum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@trent.strum](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/u/trent.strum)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 6:11pm UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/shohin-display-shelves/1381/3 "2018-07-25T18:11:27Z")

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![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/uploads/bonsaimirai/original/2X/d/d4d63d817e533dd980d4894fb92d6673843be680.jpeg)  
I’ve never been but on Bill Valvanis’ blog he has shots of shohin compositions like this one from the kokufu. The three level shelf on the right is what I am thinking about trying to build but was wondering about a standard set of dimensions.

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**Author:** ![Mike\_Hennigan](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/forum.bonsaimirai.com/mike_hennigan/32/297_2.png) [@Mike\_Hennigan](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/u/Mike_Hennigan)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 6:39pm UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/shohin-display-shelves/1381/4 "2018-07-25T18:39:20Z")

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Oh ok word. Yea I don’t know, depends on the size of shohin you want to display I suppose.

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**Author:** ![Alex](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/forum.bonsaimirai.com/alex/32/558_2.png) [@Alex](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/u/Alex)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 8:02pm UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/shohin-display-shelves/1381/5 "2018-07-25T20:02:17Z")

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Gafu-ten is the name of the most important shohin exhibition in Japan.

> **[Gafu-ten Shohin Exhibition - Japan Bonsai Tour 2016 - Bjorn Bjorholm](http://www.bjornbjorholm.com/gafu-ten-shohin-exhibition-japan-bonsai-tour-2016/)**
>
> Bjorvala Bonsai Studio’s inaugural Japan Bonsai Tour, held in January 2016, took nineteen participants from four countries to many of Japan’s most famous bonsai nurseries and gardens. The tour began in Kyoto city with a visit to the world-renowned...

  

  

Couldn’t find anything about stand dimensions tho.

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**Author:** ![Bonsai\_bob](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/forum.bonsaimirai.com/bonsai_bob/32/35621_2.png) [@Bonsai\_bob](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/u/Bonsai_bob)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 9:35pm UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/shohin-display-shelves/1381/6 "2018-07-25T21:35:08Z")

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If you know the height of the trees you can extrapolate the dimensions of the stand.  
🤓  
As a general guide the maximum height of a Shohin is around 20 cm from the rim of the pot however this is flexible as it is important that all trees in a Shohin set have similar visual weight.  
The current maximum height of Shohin for the NZBA Nationa Show is 25cm from the rim of the pot.  
More images of stands to get you inspired.  
[http://bonsainz.com/wp/shohin/](http://bonsainz.com/wp/shohin/)

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**Author:** ![t\_mac2147](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@t\_mac2147](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/u/t_mac2147)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2018, 11:42am UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/shohin-display-shelves/1381/7 "2018-07-26T11:42:18Z")

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I have seen stands 20"x20"x6 1/2. I had 1 built 24" Tall x 24" wide X 6 1/2 Deep. It depends on the size of your trees. My tree are a little taler (maybe outside the rules of shohin). Hope this may help.

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**Author:** ![DavidJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d2c977/32.png) [@DavidJ](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/u/DavidJ)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2018, 5:35pm UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/shohin-display-shelves/1381/8 "2018-07-30T17:35:16Z")

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I had the same question years ago. So I checked out the ad section in a Japanese bonsai magazine, Kinbon. Here are the measurements for two stands:  
75cm x 23cm x 70cm and 80cm x 25cm x 81cm. I can’t read Japanese but I think the first measurement is the width.  
I built one using these guidelines 34"w x 7"d x 30"h.  
I recently bought a professionally made one from China which is larger. 39"w x 9.5"d x 38"h.  
You also try to buy a stand online and see the measurements they are offering.  
They do display shohin at the Kokufu exhibition. They are in the album.

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**Author:** ![DavidJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d2c977/32.png) [@DavidJ](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/u/DavidJ)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 1:45am UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/shohin-display-shelves/1381/9 "2018-08-02T01:45:27Z")

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Trent, I replied to your post

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**Author:** ![trent.strum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@trent.strum](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/u/trent.strum)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 2:29am UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/shohin-display-shelves/1381/10 "2018-08-02T02:29:30Z")

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Awesome! Thank you!

Thank you everyone for the help!
