Thieves continue tormenting bonsai growers across Japan, snatching the increasingly popular trees for sales abroad or, in some instances, holding the plants for ransom. 

Bonsai can be extremely valuable, with some individual pots worth several million yen.  

An organization in the bonsai industry has confirmed about 30 cases targeting specialized retailers and other locations since spring.

The area at the foot of Mount Azuma in Fukushima Prefecture is among the affected communities. As one of the country’s three famed bonsai cultivation areas, “Goyo-matsu” (five-needle pine) seeds can only be gathered from the mountain with government permission.

Four businesses and enthusiasts who raise the tiny trees there have suffered five cases of theft since April, with the total damage amounting to tens of millions of yen.

“Only my best bonsai were stolen, even though I carefully nurtured them for so long,” a victim in his 70s said, shoulders slumped.

Thieves made off with his prized trees in April, and again in August.

He first noticed the theft on the morning of April 4 when 10 bonsai he had been nurturing in a garden in front of his home were gone.

Footprints of several individuals were found in the field behind his garden.

After the incident, he installed security cameras, motion sensor lights and a buzzer that would go off when triggered.

However, things did not end there. 

About a month later, he received suspicious phone calls and social media messages from someone claiming to be Vietnamese.

“I bought your stolen bonsai tree. I want to return it.”

The individual explained he had seen a photo that the man’s acquaintance posted on social media of one of the bonsai stolen in April. Then the caller’s real goal was revealed.

“If you send money to my bank account, I’ll send the tree to you in Japan.” 

The man contacted the police.

“Looking back now, I think that it might have been a scam taking advantage of the theft. I can’t forgive it,” he said.

On the morning of Aug. 22, an additional 45 trees were stolen.

“I was so shocked that my shoulders were shaking,” the man said.

He went on to say, “Sometimes, it takes a year for a bonsai to grow 1 millimeter.”

The trees are also finicky and will wither if not given proper sun and fresh air.

After the second theft, he installed 40 more motion sensor lights.

“I can’t fully protect my bonsai trees alone,” he said.

LOCATION TRACKING

Bonsai industry organizations say fitting plants with GPS devices is an effective security measure. 

In spring, Aichi prefectural police were able to use location information from Apple AirTags to crack down on a Vietnamese bonsai theft group.

The group allegedly made off with seven trees from the home of a self-employed man in Kanagawa Prefecture in March, according to the indictment. The total value based on the market price at the time was approximately 7.65 million yen ($50,000). Certain ones were worth more than 1 million yen alone.

The owner had attached AirTags to some of the plants and police used the location information to find a vehicle with the stolen bonsai. Their base of operations yielded even more trees that police believe the group was planning to sell.

HUGE GROWTH IN EXPORTS

According to Nippon Bonsai Growers Cooperative, around 30 cases of bonsai theft were reported between March 2023 and this January. 

Victims were spread out across 12 prefectures, including the Tokyo metropolitan area, Kumamoto, Mie, Nara and Aichi.

Some cases involved thieves pretending to be customers in order to scope out the plants during the day before returning to steal high-value bonsai at night.

Photos of stolen trees were sometimes discovered after being posted on social media overseas.

The cooperative has suggested growers set up sensors as a countermeasure, though they note there are still limitations since bonsai are typically kept outdoors.

According to trade statistics from the Finance Ministry, bonsai exports in 2023 reached 917 million yen, roughly double the amount in 2019.

The Japan External Trade Organization attributes this increase to large-scale exports of “Kuro-matsu,” or black pine, to the EU that began in 2023.

A persistently weaker yen has also worked in favor of exports as bonsai of different varieties continue to gain fans abroad.

(This article was written by Nobuyuki Takiguchi, Misato Nara and Akihito Ogawa.)