景道 · 盆栽 · 水石
Marcial Yuste Blasco
一武 Ichibu · 勝讓武古 Masaru Buko
Bonsai and Suiseki Master · Keidō Katayama-ryū Lineage · Director of Escuela Tradicional Sagunt-En
Curriculum Vitae
Updated: October 2026
Marcial Yuste Blasco (Ichibu 一武; artistic name Masaru Buko 勝讓武古) 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, through the traditional Ichiji Hairyō rite, he was formally incorporated into the living genealogy (keizu) of Keidō Katayama-ryū, receiving the transmission name Ichibu (一武) together with the makimono certifying his place in the lineage. To the best of currently available knowledge, he is the first Western practitioner to complete the entire traditional transmission process of Keidō Katayama-ryū, from initial study to formal incorporation into the school's genealogy.
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.
Naturalist and Ornithologist
Systematic monitoring of birdlife at the Marjal dels Moros Wildlife Refuge; collaboration with SEO/BirdLife and studies on endangered species endorsed by the CSIC.
Physical Geography — Universitat de València
Specialization in Geomorphology and Analytical Climatology.
Professional Dedication to Bonsai
Later extended to suiseki, Kazari, and Keidō.
Distance Study with Kobayashi Ippū
Personalized study of Keidō under the direct guidance of the 3rd Iemoto. Summer 2024: received the Gō 勝讓武古 (Masaru Buko) as an artistic name (natori).
First In-Person Stay at Shunkaen
Completion diploma No. 1 (more than 60 kanji, 4 hanko), calligraphed by the master. Public presentation as his student at the Taikanten in Kyoto.
Formal Incorporation into the Lineage
Second in-person stay at Shunkaen (October 2–7). Through the Ichiji Hairyō ceremony, formal incorporation into the Keidō Katayama-ryū lineage: receiving the transmission name 一武 (Ichibu) and the makimono of incorporation into the school's lineage.
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 and Suiseki 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 and suiseki.
- Speaker at the Congress of the Asociación Española de Bonsái (ABE), held in Fuenlabrada in November 2022.
- Speaker at the Galician International 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 with the Bonsai Museum of Onda (Castellón).
Years of Bonsai
Continued practice and work on specimens.
Years of Suiseki
Personal collection of more than a hundred pieces.
Shunkaen Diploma
Completion of studies, calligraphed by the 3rd Iemoto.
- 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.
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