勝譲武古

Marcial Yuste Blasco, known as Masaru Buko 勝譲武古 (artistic name Masaru Ken 勝譲謙), is a bonsai and suiseki master, teacher, researcher, and director of the Escuela Tradicional Sagunt-En. With more than twenty-three years of exclusive professional dedication to bonsai and more than fifteen years devoted to suiseki, his work integrates traditional Japanese training, historical research, and international teaching activity. He holds a degree in Physical Geography from the Universitat de València and has more than four decades of experience observing the landscape as a naturalist and ornithologist. His career combines extensive professional, teaching, and outreach experience in Europe with advanced traditional training developed at the Shunkaen Bonsai Museum in Tokyo, under the direct guidance of the 3rd Iemoto Kobayashi Kunio (Ippū).

In October 2026, during his study stay at the Shunkaen Bonsai Museum in Tokyo, the 3rd Iemoto Kobayashi Kunio (Ippū) bestowed on him the artistic kanji 謙 (Ken, “humility”), completing his artistic name 勝譲謙 (Masaru Ken). The transmission is recorded in the Keidō Katayama-ryū document 伝授之書 (Denju no sho) and was accompanied by a shikishi bearing the kanji 謙, a kakejiku with the name 勝譲謙 brushed by the master himself, and the school’s genealogy sheet 由緒・系譜. The name Masaru Ken is reserved for his artistic work in bonsai and suiseki; in all other professional, institutional and administrative contexts he keeps the name 勝譲武古 (Masaru Buko).

As director of the Escuela Tradicional Sagunt-En, he has trained students from across Europe and Latin America, regularly speaks at national and international congresses, and collaborates with leading bonsai and suiseki publications. His professional activity is dedicated to the preservation, study, and transmission of the artistic, cultural, and contemplative dimensions of bonsai, suiseki, and Keidō, with particular attention to the latter as an aesthetic discipline of presentation.

Director of the Escuela Tradicional Sagunt-En for more than a decade, he has taught courses, workshops, master classes, and lectures for associations, congresses, and institutions dedicated to bonsai and suiseki in Spain, training students from various countries across Europe and Latin America.

This teaching work also carries international recognition: he is listed in the Instructor's Directory of Bonsai Clubs International (BCI) as a Bonsai Instructor, a distinction the organization reserves for a select body of qualified teachers committed to ethical practice, sustainability, and international friendship within the world of bonsai.

• Speaker at the Congress of the Asociación Española de Bonsái (ABE), held in Fuenlabrada in November 2022.
• Suiseki speaker and led a bonsai workshop at the 8th Andalusian Bonsai Congress, held in Las Gabias (Granada) in April 2023.
• Online lecture on design and aesthetic principles in bonsai, given through Liga Bonsái (Chile) in June 2023.
• Speaker at the Galician Bonsai Congress, held in Bembibre in October 2023.
• Speaker at the 9th Andalusian Bonsai Congress and 2nd Andalusian Suiseki Congress, held in Las Gabias (Granada) in April 2025.
• Master of ceremonies for the Rokkon Shōjō exhibition (CEART, Fuenlabrada, March 2026).
• In charge of specialized guided tours for the Rokkon Shōjō exhibition.
• Regular collaboration with the Club Amigos del Bonsái de Fuenlabrada.
• Collaboration in the upkeep of the collection at the Bonsai Museum of Onda (Castellón), also giving workshops, together with Jorge Sansano, for the Club de Bonsái de Segorbe.

Signed as Marcial Yuste Blasco until 2024 and, since then, as 勝譲武古 (Masaru Buko). From October 2026, the name 勝譲謙 (Masaru Ken) is reserved for work of an artistic nature.

• 勝譲武古 (Masaru Buko). (2026). Suiseki: The Stone, Its Nature, and the Art of Its Display. BCI: Bonsai & Stone Appreciation (online edition), July 30, 2026.
• Yuste Blasco, M. (2023). Suiseki and Viewing Stones: A Connection and Return to Mother Nature. BCI: Bonsai & Stone Appreciation, July-September 2023.
• Yuste Blasco, M. (2019). Teaching to see the trees at Sagunt Bonsai School. BCI: Bonsai & Stone Appreciation, April-June 2019.
• Yuste Blasco, M. (2017). Profile: The bonsai passion of Marcial Yuste Blasco. Bonsai Focus EN, September-October 2017.
• Yuste Blasco, M. (2018). La Metamorfosis de un Pino. Esprit Bonsai International, April-May 2018.
• Yuste Blasco, M. (2019). The wild one. Bonsai Focus EN, November-December 2019.
• Yuste Blasco, M. (2020). The wild one. Bonsai Today International, January 2020.
• Yuste Blasco, M. (2021). The wild side. Bonsai Today International, December 2021.
• Domínguez Naranjo, M. Á., and Yuste, M. (2025). 2nd Andalusian Suiseki Congress: April 25, 26, and 27, 2025, Las Gabias, Granada (Spain). BCI: Bonsai & Stone Appreciation, July-September 2025.
• Domínguez Naranjo, M. Á., and Yuste, M. (2025). 2nd Andalusian Suiseki Congress: April 25, 26, and 27, 2025, Las Gabias, Granada (Spain). Suiseki Journal, 2025.
• Regular contributor to: BCI Bonsai & Stone Appreciation, Bonsai Focus EN, Bonsai Today International, Suiseki Journal, Esprit Bonsai International, and European Suiseki Magazine.