The first photograph that still exists today was taken in 1939. It shows the tree in an outside Tokonoma of the Tokyo Bonsai Club. Until 1952 it changed owners several times; we don't know who owned it during that time. Then Kohe Ota aquired it from a famous trader named Koichi Kujiuho who traded many other famous bonsai such as Tsuru-nomai, Meoyo, Sui-um, and Meogi-san. Mr Ota entrusted Saichi Suzuki with the cultivation and shaping of the tree - back then and still today it is customary in Japan that owners of famous bonsai leave their cultivation to renowned masters. In 1955, Higurashi was displayed at the 30th Kokufu-Ten exhibition in an unusual way: Its owner Mr Ota was convinced that a good bonsai didn't have a front or back side, so he positioned the tree on a continuously rotating tabletop.