"To Boldly Grow: Some Celluloid Bonsai (An Overview)"


Celluloid Bonsai I
ABS Article, Part I
1941-1988

Celluloid Bonsai II
ABS Article, Part II
1990-1995

Celluloid Bonsai III
Other Sightings
1958-1999

Celluloid Bonsai IV
Sightings
2000-present

Celluloid Bonsai V
In Video and Computer Games


Annual Breakdown
Video Series
Videos of Collections
Videos of Teachers


This Page Last Updated: May 12, 2012



In addition, there have been a few series entirely dedicated to bonsai.  These include:

1978 -- John Naka conducted 51 shows for Television Bonsai School, KSCI Los Angeles, Channel 18, the year-old non-profit independent station which targeted Asian Americans, and had most of its programming in Asian languages.   (Elias, Thomas S.  "John Yoshio Naka: The Life and Times of the Bonsai Master," Bonsai Magazine, BCI, Vol. 44, No. 1, January-March 2005, pg. 19)

1984, May 20 -- The first episode of a 13-part series "The Art of Chinese Bonsai in Taiwan" was broadcast on public television there.  The narration was provided by Prof. Amy Liang and the series was originally shown over a four month period.  Part of a government sponsored national plant-beautification project, the series was re-telecast due to an overwhelming viewer response.   (The Living Art of Bonsai by Amy Liang, Sterling, 1992, pg. 106)

2001, March 4 -- The first 30-minute episode of the 13-part  "Lindsay Farr's The Way of Bonsai" aired in Australia on Foxtel Lifestyle TV.  This was the first English language series entirely about bonsai.  A companion web site was also established.  [Viewers would tell the presenter and co-producer Farr that they "have found a greater strength of resolve towards their individual expression through Bonsai.  An insight into the origins and philosophy seems to better enable this."   (Linsay Farr in personal e-mails to RJB on October 15, 2000 through  January 26, 2002, and March 20, 2005 to change URL.)

2006, June 1 -- Lindsay Farr of Australia launched the World Of Bonsai project's downloadable videos.  Each biweekly episode is approximately 10 minutes long and includes material filmed in Japan recently and in China a few years previously.  Persons interviewed include Hiroshi Takeyama (Chairman of the Nippon Bonsai Association), Masahiko Kimura, Toshifumi Obitsu, Yangzhou's Master Lin, the late Master Xu Xiaobai, and Masahiro Kurihara.  Japanese production nurseries are seen, as well as the bonsai pot factories and kilns in Yixing, China.  "The new series has me in an inspired communication mode.  This is so much more than a tv program about bonsai could ever be.  Because the users must download the program they acknowledge a real interest in the subject matter.  No dumbing down required.  The content is awesome.  Much of it in Japanese with english subtitles...  I believe it can be as entertaining and informative to the learned scholar as it is to the newby."  The 20-part series is permanently archived.  Another location for downloading is here.   (personal e-mails from Lindsay to RJB on May 20, May 22, and Jul 31, 2006)

c.2006 -- MXTV in Tokyo has a weekly TV show that features bonsai styling and care.  See http://www.mxtv.co.jp/bonsai/index.html   (per November 8th, 2006, 08:06 AM posting on http://bonsainut.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-59.html)

2009, October 1 -- Lindsay Farr launched the WorldOfBonsai, Series 2 downloadable videos.  Again, each episode is approximately 10 minutes long.



Here are a few videos of some permanent collections:

Montreal Botanical Garden, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Humble Administrator's Garden, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

Medicinal Botanic Garden, Nanning, Guangxi, China

People's Park, Nanning, Guangxi, China

Bonsai-Museum, Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Shunkaen Bonsai Museum, Tokyo, Japan

Spirited Garden, Jeju Island, Korea

Museu do Bonsai, Sintra, Portugal

Jardin Botanico, Madrid, Spain

National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, Washington, D.C., USA

Birmingham Botanical Garden, Birmingham, West Midlands, UK

Chicago Botanic Garden, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn, New York, USA [slow loading]

The North Carolina Arboretum, Ashville, North Carolina, USA

Pacific Rim Collection, Federal Way, Washington, USA


See also assorted convention and exhibition videos.



Finally, there are a few links to videos of bonsai teachers and other events which we have in various locations on this website.
For the benefit of this page, we present these links along with several others of equal interest, now gathered here:

Vaughn Banting (1947-2008), 1988 demonstration and
1990 demonstration with Guy Guidry and Brian Hoerner.

Jim Doyle (b.1951), 2010 Video.

Osamu Hidaka, 2008 demonstration and
2003 television report including ceramist Shugo Izumi.

Harry Hirao (b.1917), GSBF Video.

Marco Invernizzi (b.1975), 2004 Italian interview and
2003 Italian interview.

Daizo Iwasaki (c.1917-2011), interview, Danish with English subtitles.

Arthur Joura (b.1957), bonsai creation explanation.

Haruo "Papa" Kaneshiro (1907-1991), video interview.

Saburō Katō (1915-2008), 2005 video and
"Japanese Bonsai Masters" is found about 2/3 of the way down the page and is hosted by Yoshihiro Nakamizu.
Shot in October 2007, approximately the first 20% of this video features Mansei-en with Katō-san.
The rest of the video includes footage of the gardens of Hiroshi Takeyama, Masahiko Kimura, and Kunio Kobayashi.

Takeo Kawabe, 2006 demonstration and
in his garden.

Masahiko Kimura (b.1940), Lindsay Farr's World of Bonsai - episode 4,
Lindsay Farr's World of Bonsai - episode 5 (the 0:53 to 2:30 mark),
a Spanish demonstration, and
interview, Danish with English subtitles (student Ryan Neil interviewed from 3:00 mark to 5:15).

Kunio Kobayashi (b.1948), a Spanish demonstration and
another.

Dorothy Koreshoff (b.1930), 30 Oct 2009 AUDIO ONLY interview.

Lu Zhei Wei, Lingnan penjing techniques.

Boon Manakitivipart, 2010 demonstration at Noelanders Trophy XI.

Pedro Morales (b.1961), demonstration.

Roy Nagatoshi (b.1943), 2008 demo with Roberto Gerpe.

John Naka (1914-2004), A Celebration of Heroes (beginning at the 3:35 mark, with some commentary by Mel Ikeda) and
a series of short clips with transcripts.

Shinichi Nakajima, 2007 demonstration.

Ryan Neil, 2011 demo at the Noelanders Trophy and 2011 critique.

Ben Oki (b.1927), discussing John Naka while working on a demo tree.

Walter Pall (b.1944), 2007 demo in Croatia and
2010 demonstration at Noelanders Trophy XI.

Milagros Rauber, 2008 demonstration.

Dan Robinson (b.1939), a brief bonsai primer.

Gabriel Romero, 2005 Spanish demonstration.

F. Chase Rosade (b.1935), 2009 demo.

Michel Sacal (d.2009), teasers for Vol. I ("Welcome to the world of Bonsai") and Vol. II ("Your first steps").

Hiroshi Takeyama (b.1942), interview, Danish with English subtitles.

Hotsumi Terakawa, brief 2007 demonstration.

Tony Tickle (b.1956), talk about the Esacallonia tree.

Taiga Urushibata, 2009 demonstration.

William N. Valavanis (b.1951), brief 2010 interview.

Xu Xiaobai (1909-2006), Lindsay Farr's World of Bonsai - episode 3 (the 7:40 to 9:16 mark).

Kaori Yamada (b.1978), piece from Thai TV at Seiko-en and during a Saika Bonsai workshop.



A clandestine 6-second view of Kokufu Ten bonsai exhibition.

And a look at the Lingbi Stone Market in China.



As we locate additional videos we will link them here, even if they are not mentioned elsewhere in this site.





Celluloid Bonsai I
ABS Article, Part I
1941-1988

Celluloid Bonsai II
ABS Article, Part II
1990-1995

Celluloid Bonsai III
Other Sightings
1958-1999

Celluloid Bonsai IV
Sightings
2000-present

Celluloid Bonsai V
In Video and
Computer Games

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