This tree is becoming dense, and to avoid inner branch weakening, this is the time of year to trim long shoots and one of every pair of leaves. Here is the starting point., can’t even see the trunk now!
After shortening long shoots and removing one of each pair of leaves.
The upper portion was pruned a bit heavier to allow sunlight to reach the interior areas.
Below, against a better background.
And a couple close ups of the nicely-developing bark…
I have been studying bonsai since 1994, in an ever-increasing obsessive fashion. In our last 5 years prior to moving from Iowa to Alabama pursuing a career in the foodservice industry, my bonsai collection was limited to a few varieties that could survive brutal winters outside, or winters under dim light in the dank basement of our humble duplex...my wife puts up with a lot. Including the trailer hitch I put on our brown 1983 Chrysler New Yorker to pull a U-Haul full of trees to Nashville for a 3-month stop along the career path that led us to Alabama. 12 years later, we no longer have the New Yorker; and not a single one of those trees remain on my bench, having given the last holdout to a new club member this summer. I prefer collecting native trees and buying the classical species used in Japan, feeding organic, and reading everything I can get my hands on.
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One thought on “Partial defoliation of an ‘Arakawa’ JM”
My acers are galloping away too, so I must follow your lead, Brian…
Nebari Bonsai 
My acers are galloping away too, so I must follow your lead, Brian…