Japan and the Philippines marked 70 years of friendship in miniature.

At Greenhills Mall in San Juan, Japanese Ambassador Endo Kazuya and Madame Endo Akiko joined the opening of the National Bonsai and Suiseki Show 2026, a weeklong exhibit of bonsai, viewing stones, lectures and workshops.

Bonsai has a way of making the obvious hard to ignore.

Here were trees shaped over years, cut back, wired, restrained and kept alive by TLC. Not a bad image for a relationship between two countries with a long and complicated history, now being celebrated through culture.

Endo said the anniversary was a time to look back at the “roots” that shaped the bond between Japan and the Philippines.

Around him were Filipino bonsai artists, judges, instructors and enthusiasts who have taken a Japanese tradition and made it part of their own practice.

The show runs until 21 June.