The £221,000 Morimoto Villa — Secret Reserve of a Forgotten Bonsai Conservatory

Morimoto Villa contained an indoor bonsai conservatory, designed for precise care and long-term preservation. Within its walls, £221,000 existed as reserve—investment in rare specimens, imported soil, and specialized cultivation materials—now left untouched and quietly safeguarded.

Miniature Trees and Documented Reserve

Hiroshi Morimoto, master bonsai conservator and horticulturalist, was born in 1867 and trained under Kyoto artisans.

Married to Aiko Morimoto, father of a son named Daichi, his presence survives in objects: pruning shears engraved with his full legal name, handwritten care schedules, bundles of moss and fertilizer labeled by type, correspondence from collectors in Nagasaki, and a ledger detailing reserve tied to each bonsai. His daily routine followed exacting cadence—watering at dawn, pruning by midday, and ledger updating by lamplight—revealing a temperament deliberate, meticulous, and serene.

Import Restrictions and Cultivation Halt

By 1910, maritime import restrictions and economic downturn limited access to rare soils and exotic plant specimens. Orders ceased; new cultivation stalled. The conservatory preserves this pause: seedlings left untended, bonsai stands empty, ledger entries ending abruptly. Some specimens may have been redistributed; many remain carefully positioned, their reserve documented yet unrealized.

A final note beneath the last bonsai entry reads: “Maintain reserve until shipments resume.” Shipments never came. Morimoto Villa stands abandoned indoors, its bonsai conservatory intact, its miniature trees poised, and its secret reserve suspended between care and silence.