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Masashi Hirao exudes the calm you'd expect of a bonsai master.
He speaks softly and appears to glide — not walk — as he moves around a bonsai tree with his golden scissors held aloft.The act absorbs him, his eyes dart from branch to branch as he spins the artwork on its platform, carefully inspecting it from every angle.
"When I first saw a bonsai tree it reminded me instantly of the view and smell of the mountain where I played in Tokushima when I was young. That's how I entered the bonsai world," he says.
At 35, he's one of the youngest masters practising the craft in Japan. He says bonsai could die out unless another generation takes up the enthusiasm for the ancient pastime.
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At 35, Masashi Hirao is one of the youngest bonsai masters in Japan. (ABC News: Rachel Mealey)
"There are not many young bonsai craftsmen and many bonsai trees are being exported overseas," he says."If this condition continues, bonsai will disappear in 30 years and bonsai craftsmen will also disappear."Mr Hirao decided to meet the problem head on.
He now "performs" bonsai at galleries and festivals in the hope of attracting younger people.
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A finished work created by Masashi Hirao, from a bonsai performance. (ABC News: Rachel Mealey)
He takes an unrefined bonsai tree and changes its shape, turning it into a finished work of art in 30 minutes."It's just showing how cool bonsai is and breaking the image of bonsai people have," Mr Hirao says.
He hopes his performance will spark an interest and prompt a visit to a bonsai nursery.
"I'm hoping when people come to the bonsai nursery and stand in front of a bonsai tree which doesn't move but is alive and older than they are, they can feel the energy or something that comes out of the tree without saying it in words."There is evidence that bonsai trees were brought to Japan from China as souvenirs in the 6th century.
Bonsai trees came to adorn the homes of wealthy Japanese people and the "potted trees" became symbolic of Japan.
These days bonsai is seen in Japan as an old man's hobby.
Rumiko Ishida is the curator of the Bonsai Art Museum in Omiya, in western Tokyo.
She says the museum attracts a lot of visitors, but not young Japanese people.
"For Japanese people, many are senior-aged, but many of the foreign visitors are young and they're in their 30s and 40s," Ms Ishida says.
Austen Kosasih is a 26-year-old Melburnian who is in Japan studying an apprenticeship under bonsai master Kunio Kobayashi.
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Austen Kosasih thinks the revival of the craft of bonsai depends on the rest of the world. (ABC News: Rachel Mealey)
He believes bonsai is lost to Japan and its revival now depends on the rest of the world."As we speak, every single day, bonsai masterpieces in Japan are being shipped to the UK, to Europe, to China, to Taiwan. They are losing national treasures on a daily basis because there is a great decline in the hobby," Mr Kosasih says."It's sad, but it could be an uprising of a new bonsai generation worldwide, so I'm just hoping that will be the case.
Mr Kosasih runs a bonsai rental business in Melbourne, offering hotels, restaurants and shops the opportunity to rent one of his bonsai trees to adorn their premises.
He hopes it also prompts a more general interest in the hobby in Australia.
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There are fears bonsai could die out unless another generation takes up the ancient pastime. (ABC News: Rachel Mealey)
"I think that the one thing that us Australians have is that we love our DIY — we love it!" he says."Bonsai is DIY in essence, if you have a seed that you grow and you spend several generations to create something like this — it's a work of art."
For him, bonsai offers a peaceful escape from the hustle and bustle of city life.
"When I'm really in the zone to do bonsai I don't think about anything else. Hours can go by really quick. It's healing, it's meditative, you're so in touch with nature you tend to appreciate a lot of things that you see in your surroundings."
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