BONSAI BOOK OF DAYS
What Happened On This Date in "Recent" Bonsai History?
APRIL
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1889 - Norio Kobayashi was born. [He would go on to edit and publish the
very influential periodical Bonsai. In 1930 he would write
The Study of Bonsai, and six years later would also have published
Contemporary Bonsai and their Care and Study and cultivation of
Satsuki azaleas, all in Japanese. He would be a lecturer at the
Tokyo College of Gardening. Kobayashi would be one of the founders and
major executives of the Kokufu Bonsai Association, a private organization which
would hold an annual exhibition
emphasizing creative bonsai at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Ueno Park beginning
in 1934. In 1951 the Japanese Travel Bureau in its Tourist Library series would
publish his Bonsai -- Miniature Potted Trees in English. Nine editions
of this highly respected book by this acknowledged authority would see print by the
end of that decade alone, quickly finding its way to the West and enlightening the
bonsai students there. One of its readers was the up-and-coming California
teacher John Naka, who would begin exchanging
letters with Kobayashi in 1963. That November, acclaimed for his success in
helping to bring bonsai up to the level of a cultural art, Kobayashi would be granted
a Medal of Honor with a Yellow Ribbon by the Japanese government. He would
invite Naka to visit the Kokufuten, and the latter would do so in early 1965.
While there, Kobayashi would meet with Naka several times and introduce the American
to leading figures in the world Japanese bonsai. He also would encourage Naka to
use American plants as bonsai material and not rely on the plants traditionally used
in Japan for dwarf potted trees. Kobayashi would retire from editing and publishing
the periodical Bonsai after 518 consecutive issues. He would die in 1972 at
the age of 83.]
(Personal e-mail from Yukio Murata to RJB Apr. 22, 2006;
Kobayashi, Bonsai -- MPT, 14th printing, 1966, Editor's Notes, pp. 5-6,
24-25; Connie Rosade's column in Journal, ABS, Vol. 2, No. 1, pg. 17) SEE ALSO: Feb 23
1907 - Kenneth Iwatoki Sugimoto was born in Hiroshima, Japan. [At an early age he would learn bonsai from an old master who lived near him. In 1915, Ken would come to these shores, his family already in the U.S. He would continue to develop his art under the tutorship of renowned bonsai master Professor Sakakibara (Who was on a leave from Japan) and would establish in 1939 the West Los Angeles Bonsai Club. He would serve briefly as Instructor and President until the war. After the internment years, Ken would settle with his family in Lodi. In 1951 he would open the first retail bonsai nursery in this country a little ways to the west in Palo Alto. Two years later in the Spring Ken would found and be the president of the Peninsula Bonsai Club there, now the oldest bonsai club in the United States. Ken was considered instrumental in establishing the Bonsai movement in America, also helping form the San Francisco Bonsai Club and being the instructor for both the Milbrae Adult School Bonsai Club and the Stockton Bonsai Club. He led trips to Japan in 1968 and 1971. Specializing in the formations of trees in rock plantings, Ken's creative techniques attracted bonsai masters from Japan who came to learn this method from Ken. He would teach and run Ken's Bonsai Nursery for many years, before retiring and having his oldest son Tak take over the business. Still teaching as late as 1997, Ken would die of natural causes on Jan. 19, 2001 in Palo Alto. Kinuyo, his wife of over 70 years and also born in 1907, would be living in a rest home for at least four years after that. The club would hold an annual show every Mother's Day, skipping only 2001 in memory of Ken.] (RJB phone call to Tak Sugimoto on Aug. 16, 2005; "About Ken's Bonsai Garden," http://www.kensbonsai.com/about.html ; Traugott, Elisabeth "Life on a small scale," http://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/morgue/real_estate/1997_Jan_24.HOME24.html ; obituary, Palo Alto Weekly, Jan. 31, 2001, http://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/morgue/community_pulse/2001_Jan_31.OBITLE31.html ; "Peninsula Bonsai Club Show," http://www.bonsaitalk.com/forum/printthread.php?t=6460 ; Dillon, J.A. "Sokumenzu - Profile," Bonsai, BCI, Vol. XI, No. 4, May 1972, pg. 20, which also states "He is American born, reared and educated in Japan thru six years of Elementary School and a year and a half of High School, in Iwakuni on the main island of Japan. Then in Hiroshima he specialized in Business Education at the High School there. Ken first studied Bonsai at an early age in the Iwakuni Bonsai School where he was an honor student. Lodi, California was his next home for eleven years; but Bonsai called again taking Ken to Los Angeles...") 1975 -- Robert F. Drechsler became the first curator of the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. with the arrival to the U.S. of the Japanese Bicentennial bonsai. One of the senior technicians, Bob was a well-trained horticulturist who, it so happened, had been caring for the small collection of penjing that had been presented to President Richard Nixon during his February 1972 visit to China. [Bob would continue in the curator's position until his retirement in 1996.] (Biography, http://www.bonsai-nbf.org/nbpm/drechslerbio.htm ; Dr. John Creech's The Bonsai Saga, How the Bicentennial Collection Came to America, Washington: U.S. National Arboretum, April 2001, pp. 24-25) SEE ALSO: Mar 20, Jul 9 1978 -- The Penjing Garden at the Shanghai Botanic Garden opened to the public on 4 hectares of land. "Shanghai Style Penjing" is one of the important artistic Penjing schools in present-day China. The essential collection here has more than one thousand pots of Tree Penjing on display. Most of these are prized and have won wide commands in exhibitions at home and abroad. Thirty pots of Rock Penjing represent the spectacular landscapes of China. Many visitors are fond of the Penjing Garden, and important noble guests from the home and abroad are always received here. (Shanghai Botanic Gardens, subgardens open to the public, http://sinosource.com/SH/PUB/SHBG/subgardn.htm ) |
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| 3 | 1995 -- A commemorative postage stamp was issued by Monaco in honor of the European Bonsai Congress which would be held there June 9-11. SEE ALSO: Jan 29, Feb 3, Feb 16, Mar 1, Mar 27, Mar 31, Apr 6, Apr 18, May 6, May 29, Jun 16, Jul 20, Aug 20, Aug 22, Sep 22, Oct 1, Oct 4, Dec 9. |
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1962 -- On the same day his first grandson was born, teacher John Y.
Naka collected a California juniper
(Juniperus californica carriere)
in the high desert country. In honor of 1962 (the "Year of the Tiger"),
the 33" tall tree would later be named
Tora
(Tiger). (The tree is believed to be the longest trained of any California
Juniper.) [In November, another California juniper would be collected.
At 32" in height, this would be named
Ryu
(Dragon) because there is a mythical rivalry between a "
Tora
" and a "
Ryu
" to see who can strive to obtain something that only one can possess.]
("About the Cover,"
Bonsai Journa
l, ABS, Vol. 19, No. 2, Summer, 1985, pg. 1;
BT
by JYN, Color Plate 10 "Tora" photo taken in 1970, and 11 "Ryu" photo taken in 1973)
1970 -- Paul Matsusaki died in Phoenix, AZ five weeks before his sixty-fourth birthday while putting finishing touches on the local Bonsai Society's display. Toyotoshi had been raised on the south side of the Japanese island of Shikoku, and had learned a few things about bonsai while watching both an older brother and grandfather. Working for a family in Seattle to be near his lumberman father, the fourteen year old boy was called Paul when his employer couldn't pronounce his given name. He later moved to Southern California where he grew various agricultural crops, actively promoted traditional Japanese culture, and met and married his wife, Edna Tani. They spent WWII in relocation camps in Arkansas and Arizona where they taught Japanese to both the young and adults and cared for the elderly. After the War, the couple and their daughter moved back to L.A., where Paul briefly farmed and tried his hand at landscaping. Relocating to Phoenix, they joined the Japanese community here and, having found his niche in landscaping, in the early 1950s Paul opened the Toyo ("Oriental") nursery at his house. Teaching bonsai to various students informally at his nursery, including a young landscaper named Leroy Fujii, Paul read about a rising teacher in California named John Naka. Invited, John came over and gave a workshop, and Paul and he became friends. Some of Paul's students insisted on establishing a formal club in Phoenix after John's visit. A club was officially founded in the fall of 1962 by twelve members and John was invited back annually to teach. Paul and club members, likewise, travelled each year to see John and his students at the California Bonsai Society conventions in the spring, and to discuss the art with regular attendees from back east such as E. Felton Jones and George F. Hull. For many years Paul also went over to L.A. to attend meetings of a group which preserved Japanese folk songs. In the spring of 1970, the lease had run out on Toyo Nursery and Paul was planning on relocating, after the Phoenix Bonsai Society show. [The club's annual booklet would be first published as a tribute to Paul that Fall, and the following April saw a well-designed Japanese Memorial Garden established at the Desert Botanical Garden where the club met. When the club relocated its meetings to the Valley Garden Center in 1973, a smaller but more practical-in-the-desert Memorial Garden for Paul would be established there.] (Designing Dwarfs in the Desert by Robert J. Baran, Phoenix: Pyramid Dancer Publications, 1997, pp. 9-10, 12-13, 15-22, 27, 34, 37-40, 45, 49) SEE ALSO: Aug 19, Nov 1, Nov 15, Nov 21 1971 -- Fourteen enthusiasts established the Potomac Bonsai Association at an initial meeting held in the auditorium of the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. James R. Newton was editor of the association's Newsletter, which was published for its members in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and northern Virginia. (Bonsai Journal, ABS, Summer 1971, p. 34) |
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1958 --
The Fresno Bee
published a story about Melvin Durao,
titled "Art of Bonsai is Antidote for Strain." Six years earlier
the 30 year old had moved across the Pacific Ocean from Honolulu, HA to
inland California. Durao started making rounds of local
nurseries. An "old Japanese fellow" told him a major secret of
bonsai: go to a nursery and ask to see the junk pile, the twisted,
gnarled specimens off somewhere in a forgotten corner. Durao
began making acqauintances with a loose-knit group of plant lovers,
gardeners and people who were learning bonsai. A handful of them
met informally, and these small gatherings eventually led to a
something which became the Bonsai Club of Fresno. The Club's
first mention was in this article. At the time Durao had a
collection of 55 trees. [Soon after, he would leave the club
seeing an influx of nursery owners and continuing to prefer the
quieter, less formal gatherings that preceded the club's
founding. He would continue to give demonstrations in Valley
towns, exhibit parts of his collection every year at the Fresno County
Fair, and eventually judge the fair's bonsai exhibit. Meanwhile,
there were about 30 members in the club and they were on sound
footing. Early in the 1960s, the Bonsai Club of Fresno took the
new name of Fresno Bonsai Society. It would be one of two
organizations in the town, the other being Akatsuki, which consisted
primarily of Japanese-Americans. In March 1968, the society would
hold its first public display of trees in a joint show with the Fresno
Chapter of Ikebana International. About five years later would
come the society's first public bonsai-only show. In the
mid-1970s the group would formally incorporate and in 1978 the Fresno
Bonsai Society would become one of the first local affiliates to join
the Golden State Bonsai Federation.]
(Wasserman, Jim "FBS History,"
http://www.gsbf-bonsai.org/fresnobonsai/bonsai/fresnobonsai/fresno_bonsai_society1.htm
) SEE ALSO: Feb 25.
1989 -- With "World Peace Through Bonsai" as its theme, the four day long World Bonsai Convention opened in Omiya, Japan and the World Bonsai Friendship Federation was inaugurated and commenced corporate existence. A commemorative postage stamp was issued by Japan. ("World Bonsai Friendship Federation Update" by Ted. T. Tsukiyama, Bonsai, BCI, Nov/Dec 1989, pg. 10) SEE ALSO: Jan 29, Feb 3, Feb 16, Mar 1, Mar 27, Mar 31, Apr 3, Apr 18, May 6, May 29, Jun 16, Jul 20, Aug 20, Aug 22, Sep 22, Oct 1, Oct 4, Dec 9. 1993 -- The National Bonsai Collection was officially opened at the Birmington Botanical Gardens, U.K. by Japanese Consul-General Mr. Ryaichiro Yamazaki. (The few bonsai societies in Great Britain established in the 1960's and 70's had increased significantly in numbers, with the growing interest in bonsai resulting in the setting up of the Federation of British Bonsai Societies which, in turn, helped establish this, the National Bonsai Collection in 1991.) ("The National Collection," http://www.nationalbonsaicollection.org ) |
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| 8 | 2005 -- Renowned Bangalore bonsai master, S. "Bonsai" Srinivas today launched a collection of branded bonsais, "Signature Bonsai." Srinivas created his first bonsai in 1960 after several years of experimentation. His family is said to have opposed his ideas and he is believed to have had no income from his bonsais for some eight years. Today, Bonsai Srinivas is a household name and a US-based private equity firm called The Gabriel Management Group (TGMG) recently acquired the business with the idea of taking it global. Each "Signature Bonsai" has his signature on the ceramic container that supports the miniature tree. The branded Bonsais will come also with an authenticity card, which contains tips on maintenance and nurturing Bonsai. Under the tie-up TGMG will market the Signature Bonsais in India and the US. Signature Bonsai is a collection of one to five-year-old plants of some 50-60 different species. The collection consists of two varieties: Standard collection, plants that can be in the same container for over 15 years and cost Rs 500; Starter collection, plants costing Rs 300 and need to be shifted to other containers in three years. Srinivas said that it is proposed to add fruit trees also to the collection of Signature Bonsais in the future. ("Potted plant maker ties up with US firm," The Hindu Business Line, April 8, 2005, http://www.blonnet.com/blnus/07081506.htm ; Sujit John "A yummy way to win business," Times of India, May 26, 2004, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/700179.cms ) SEE ALSO: Aug 9. |
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1993 -- The Internet newsgroup rec.arts.bonsai was first posted by
Mike Bartolone.
(general e-mail dated 23 May 1996 from Hud Nordin announcing that the 25,000th
article had been posted the day before.) SEE ALSO: Jan 26
1998 -- Barely six months after the 3rd World Bonsai Convention, Mr. Lee Chul-ho, the president of the Korean Bonsai Association, died from a heart attack. His death dealt a serious blow to the bonsai society in Korea. The group had hosted the WBFF Convention. In spite of an insufficient preparation period, Mr. Lee actively publicized Korea's first worldwide bonsai convention. Its success was achieved by the people in the Korean bonsai world, and they should be praised for their devotion to development and friendship. At the opening ceremony, Mr. Lee, the secretary of the Dept. of Forestry, gave his remarks to the 700 participants from 20 countries. Mr. Lee did his own demonstration at the convention, which also spotlighted 220 typical Korean bonsai on display. An exhibition on the history of bonsai in Korea was also enjoyed by enthusiasts from around the world. ("Success of the 3rd World Bonsai Convention," Asia-Pacific Region, World Bonsai Friendship Federation, http://www.bonsai-wbff.org/rasia.shtml, accessed 05/31/04.] |
| 10 | 1970 -- From this day through the 12th, the American Bonsai Society (ABS) Symposium was held in Dallas, TX. Speaker John Naka, from California and making his national debut, was well-received. [So well, in fact, that he was invited to the next year's event in July in Norfolk, VA. A photo-article "Magic With Naka" in the Spring 1970 issue of the Bonsai Journal (pg. 10) preserved the step-by-step transformation of a nursery-grown juniper; the Fall 1971 issue had both a cover photograph and illustrated story of "The Forest That Grew in Norfolk" (pp. 46-47). Eleven large nursery-grown junipers were transformed in the latter demonstration] ("Apologia to Our Readers," Journal, ABS, Winter 1972, pg. 74) |
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| 12 | 1996 -- The by-laws for a new association, Collegio Nazionale Istruttori del Bonsai e del Suiseki (IBS), were ratified in Milan. The Italian National Association of Bonsai and Suiseki Instructors unites persons who are qualified in teaching and spreading these disciplines. In addition to creating and updating a professional registry of these instructors, IBS represents all recognized Instructors in Italy and abroad, taking care of their training and updating programmes, taking care of research and documentation, and promoting relations with other Italian and foreign Associations. One of the most representative pioneers of Italian Bonsai, Prof. Giovanni Genotti, was the first chairman and would serve a three-year term. ("The History of IBS," http://www.collegioibs.it/home.htm/storia.html ) |
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1937 -- Larz Anderson died. [Six months later, thirty of his
bonsai would be gifted to Arnold Arboretum by Mrs. Isabel Anderson in memory
of both her late husband and the first director of Arnold, Charles Sargent.
Isabel would die in November 1948, and the following July the remaining nine
plants in the collection would be donated to the Aboretum.]
(Born on August 15, 1866, Anderson had graduated from Harvard College in 1888 and spent the next two years travelling the globe. He first visited Japan in 1889, bringing back two dwarf maples. He was then assigned to the U.S. Embassies in London and Rome throughout most of the 1890s and acted as an adjutant general in the 2nd Army Corps during the Spanish-American War. Appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Japan in November 1912 by Republican President William H. Taft, Anderson resigned the following March with the change in administration (Democratic Pres. Woodrow Wilson). Among his various awards was the Grand Cordon, 1st Class, Order of the Rising Sun.) (After his post, Anderson bought at least forty trees from the Yokohama Nursery Company. These first significant bonsai in this country reached his home in Brookline, Massachusetts on March 6. These plants were accompanied by the first of a series of Japanese gardeners to care for them -- the most famous of them was Rainosuke Awano, who maintained the collection while studying for his doctorate in philosophy at Columbia University. The trees were put on public display on at least two occasions: at the 1916 spring flower show of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and again in November 1933 when the M.H.S. sponsored a show of chrysanthemums and bonsai.) [Following the trees' gifting to the Arnold Arboretum, sufficient funds to build a lath shade house for the display of the bonsai would also be donated. The collection, however, would not continue to get the attention of knowledgeable Japanese gardeners. The staff would do the best it could with its limited knowledge of bonsai and the limited financial resources of the end of the Depression era. Additional stress and long-time damage would be put on the trees by the practice of periodically forcing them into early spectacular growth for the spring flower show of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.] "Among them were trees given to [Anderson] by the Emperor. This collection was brought into the country before the bare root" laws and so had a better chance for survival than modern imports. Since then a few other trees have been added from various donations. The most impressive among the Larz Anderson bonsai are five very large Chamaecyparis obtusa nana which measure, from the bottom of the container to the top of the tree, from three to six feet! They are of the type which was used in the great halls of the palace. To my knowledge, the only other bonsai of this size are to be found in the Imperial collection in Japan. According to the Arboretum records, these trees vary from approximately 100 years in age to about 230. Another large tree, which has a nice trunk, is a white pine about 75 years old." (Photograph of Anderson's burial niche taken during RJB's visit to the National Cathedral, Washington, D.C., July 1998. Ironically, this is the same place where only one U.S. President is encrypted also (though along a different wall): Woodrow Wilson; Who Was Who In America, Vol. 1, 1897-1942, (Chicago: Marquis-Who’s Who Incorporated, 1966), p. 23; “The Art of Bonsai” by Jean O'Connell, Science Digest, March 1970, pg. 38; “Perfect Proportions” by Bernie Ward, SKY Magazine, Delta Airlines, December 1992, pg. 32; Among them were trees quote from "Wintering Bonsai at the Arnold Arboretum" by Constance Derderian, Journal, American Bonsai Society, Vol. 3, No. 4, Winter 1970, pg. 112; Early American Bonsai: The Larz Anderson Collection of the Arnold Arboretum by Peter Del Tredici, (Jamaica, MA: Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University, 1989), pg. 6, which mentions that Anderson held his post in Japan for 6 months, and also pp. 9-12; By 1793 the Providence had accomplished delivery. SEE ALSO: May 12, Sep 20 |
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1977 -- The three-day First Annual Show of the Naungat Bonsai Society
began in the National Guard Armory in Anchorage, Alaska as part of the
Anchorage Flower and Garden Show.
("Show Calendar,"
Bonsai,
BCI, March 1977, Vol. XVI, No. 2, pg. 63)
2006 -- Hideo Marushima died. (He was Japan's leading authority on the history of both bonsai and suiseki. He wrote the chapter "The History of Bonsai" in the Nippon Bonsai Association's Classic Bonsai of Japan (1989), and was the author of many books on this subject including History of Japanese Stones (1992), Studies on the Historical Influences of Chinese Penjing on Japanese Bonsai (1998), and the three volume The World of Chinese Penjing (2000) co-authored with Hu Yunhua. Mr. Marushima was an attorney in Tokyo.) (Personal e-mail to RJB from Bill Valavanis, 20 Jun 2006; cover flap of Classic Bonsai of Japan (Tokyo and New York: Kodansha International, 1989)) |
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| 16 | 1996 -- Bonsai artist, teacher, and landscape gardener Toshio Saburomaru died at age 78 near his home in Mountain View, California. In 1955 he had helped organize the Kusamura Bonsai Association at his Menlo Park nursery. Working with others who studied under Yuji Yoshimura when that new-to-the-West teacher visited the Bay area, "Tosh" helped form an association of six area clubs whose first newsletter was issued in November 1962. "Bonsai Clubs Association Newsletter" would be renamed Bonsai Clubs International's Bonsai Magazine within six years and Tosh always gave that organization and publication his full support. For many years his "Seasonal Reminders" was a regular feature. Tosh taught and demonstrated at numerous conventions throughout the U.S, and was the first American bonsai artist to teach in Latin America when he was invited to Venezuela in 1979. Beginning about 1973 he also began hosting a regular series of tours to Japan, again exposing his students to the latest in the art of bonsai. ("Tribute To A Pioneer In American Bonsai" by Randy Clark, Bonsai, BCI, May/June 1996, pp. 22-24) SEE ALSO: Jan 12, Jan 30, Feb 27, Feb 28, Oct 22, Dec 24 |
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| 18 | 1996 -- " Potted Landscapes," a set of six postage stamps featuring penjing on flat marble bases atop carved wooden stands, was issued by the People's Republic of China (Mainland China). SEE ALSO: Jan 29, Feb 3, Feb 16, Mar 1, Mar 27, Mar 31, Apr 3, Apr 6, May 6, May 29, Jun 16, Jul 20, Aug 20, Aug 22, Sep 22, Oct 1, Oct 4, Dec 9. |
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1980 -- The First World Bonsai Convention was held in Osaka during
the World Bonsai and Suiseki Exhibition (April 16-May 6) at the Expo '70
Commemoration Park. Representatives from ten countries attended the
largest exhibition ever staged up to that time: over eight hundred trees
and stones from Japan and seventy-two photos of bonsai (due to quarantine
regulations) from fifteen other countries shown on fifty photographic panels.
At this convention, Saburō Katō convened a conference of bonsai leaders
who unanimously adopted a resolution to eventually establish an international
bonsai association. [The World Bonsai Friendship Federation would
be organized nine years later in Omiya.]
(International Bonsai, Summer/1980, pg. 29) SEE ALSO: Apr 6, Oct
15, Nov 3
2003 -- Kenichi Oguchi of Okaya, Japan died at age 90. He spent over 70 years collecting and growing bonsai and became known for his outstanding collection of shimpaku junipers, Ezo spruce and other conifers. He contributed the shimpaku juniper in the original 53 bonsai donated in 1976 in celebration of the U.S. Bicentennial. This tree became the signature tree and served as the model for the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum logo. Oguchi also developed a great interest in suiseki and assembled one of the largest collections of excellent suiseki in Japan. In 1987 his book illustrating his collection of bonsai and some stones was published. He also studied the art of calligraphy and became known throughout Japan for his fine brush works. In 2002, Oguchi donated to the U.S. National Arboretum three framed works of his calligraphy along with three suiseki. He was thus known as a master of the three most important elements for a successful tokonoma display. ("Bonsai News -- Japan" submitted by Thomas S. Elias, Bonsai, BCI, July/August 2003, pp. 6-7) |
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1958 -- Hoping to make itself a state-wide organization, the Southern
California Bonsai Society (changed from
Club
in 1953) was renamed the
California Bonsai Society. [The group then presented its first
annual exhibition of miniature trees at the California Museum of Science
and Industry in Exposition Park in Los Angeles, running April 27 through
May 4. The exhibit was judged a huge success and scheduled as an
annual affair.]
(BT
by JYN, pg. 257; Komai's
article, pp. 38-39; "Birds & Butterflies Space" by William J. McCann,
Bonsai in California, Vol. 5, 1971, pg. 38; states that the shows started
in 1957; "History of Bonsai West" by Dorothy S. Young,
International Bonsai Digest presents Bonsai Gems, Fall 1974, pg. 94)
1988 -- The China Penjing Artists Association was formed. [The association would be run by a management committee and an executive committee. Professor Xu Xiaobai would work as chairman of the association. National Penjing Exhibitions with a total of 3,824 exhibits would be held five times since 1988. In 1991, an international penjing exhibition would be held in Beijing with 300 penjing lovers from Korea, Canada, America, Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Nine Penjing Classes were also be presented, with more than 1,500 people going through the penjing course of training. There would be about 48 director members and 920 private members of the group over the nation by 2004.] ("The Organization and Activity of Penjing in China," by Prof. Su Xuehen, WBFF Director of China Region, World Bonsai Friendship Federation, http://www.bonsai-wbff.org/rchina.shtml, accessed 05/31/04.] |
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| 22 | 1986 -- The 1st Exhibition of the Korean Bonsai Association (founded Jan. 1985) began and would run through the 17th of May. [Subsequent annual large-scale potted plant exhibitions for growers from all over the country would be called "ceremonies."] (KBA web site, http://www.koreabonsai.com/en/frame.html ) |
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1952 -- Thirty-one year old Yuji Yoshimura, assisted by German agricultural
diplomat Alfred Koehn, began the first bonsai course for foreigners in
Tokyo. [It was an instant success and within three years over 600
students -- mostly foreign dignitaries, military personnel and businessmen
and their wives -- would be taught the six-lesson course in classical bonsai
art.]
("Yuji Yoshimura, A Memorial Tribute To A Bonsai
Master & Pioneer" by William N. Valavanis,
International Bonsai,
IBA, 1998/No. 1, pg. 32) SEE ALSO: Jan 12, Feb 27, Jul 17, Dec 24
1998 -- After a year in quarantine, seven magnificent bonsai masterpieces
from Japan were unveiled at a gala ceremony in the U.S. National Arboretum's
National Bonsai and Penjing Museum. Funds for the donation were underwritten
by the Nippon Bonsai Association (Japan) and the National Bonsai Foundation
(U.S.). The oldest of the seven was a 250 year-old needle juniper
(
Juniperus rigida
) in training for thirty years and donated by the
Governor of the Saitama Prefecture. Two days following this ceremony
two other additions were made to the Museum: a beautiful California live
oak bonsai and a self-portrait, both created by John Naka. The painting
was done at the request of the NBF and the Arboretum so that it could be
hung in the museum as a lasting reminder of John's many, many contributions
to bonsai.
("Arbor Friends," newsletter of the
Friends of the National Arboretum, Summer 1998, pg. 1)
2000 -- William "Bill" E. Southworth died. Born on April
30, 1924 in Fulton, NY, he had read of the collection of Ming trees at
the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in a 1939 [sic] issue of
Life
magazine.
When he was stationed as a Marine in China and later in Japan in 1946
he was first exposed to bonsai. After retiring from engineering
(after retiring from the Marines), he finally began studying bonsai
under Dick Whidman, John Naka, Harry Hirao, and Ernie Kuo.
Eventually he taught at Cypress College and later began teaching from
home. He helped the Vietnamese community form their own bonsai
club. He loved organizing bonsai exhibits and shows for the
various clubs and organizations and had many a tale to tell of the
successes and pitfalls of each one. Equally as interesting were
his recollections of his years spent in the maze of politics in the
bonsai community. Bill was a most ardent supporter of anyone who
wanted to try his/her hand and luck at training and raising these
beautiful, and at times exasperating, miniature living art forms.
("In Memory of William 'Bill' E. Southworth,"
http://www.prepgraphics.com/kofu/Sale10/southworth.html, accessed July 6, 2001)
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1995 -- Arch Hawkins, editor of the American Bonsai Society's
Journal
since the summer of 1992, died. A founding member of the bonsai clubs
in Dallas (1965), Austin (1966 but short-lived; reborn in 1972), and Houston
(1971), he was named an outstanding bonsai artist by the National Bonsai
Foundation in 1987. He was a member of both ABS and Bonsai Clubs
International and wrote articles for both organizations' publications.
("Arch R. Hawkins" by J.R. (Bill) Cody,
Journal, ABS, Summer 1995,
pg. 52) SEE ALSO: Jun 15, Jul 2
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| 27 | 2001 -- The final 6 winning pots of the First North American Bonsai Pot Competition were announced on this day at the opening of the Asian Arts Festival celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum. Sponsored by the National Bonsai Foundation in association with the Takagi Bonsai Museum of Tokyo, the competition had two categories: modern and traditional. Jim Barrett took first prize in the former and Sara Rayner in the latter. [Their wares, along with those of the second and third prize winners in both categories, would be on display at the Museum through July 29.] ("Winners of the First North American Bonsai Pot Competition, http://www.bonsai-nbf.org/nbf/potcomp2001/potterywinners.htm.) SEE ALSO: Jan 4. |
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| 29 |
1994 -- Beginning today and running through June 5th, the Bonsai Societies
of Florida's First Exhibit of Bonsai occurred at the Walt Disney World's
EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) near Orlando, Florida.
The bonsai exhibit coincided with the six week Flower and Garden Festival.
(That Spring, a meeting at the WDW Horticulture office to plan for the
first annual Festival was attended by Mrs. Mary Jane McSwain, the Garden
Editor for the Daytona Beach News-Journal newspaper. She contacted
BSF president Tom Zane and proposed that the BSF arrange for the loan of
bonsai. Tom called a planning meeting at Jim Smith's nursery in Vero
Beach. A partnership contract was negotiated between BSF and WDW
for the loan of 16 large (30 inches or taller) show-quality bonsai.
Frank Harris of the Central Florida Bonsai Club acted as the liaison between
BSF and WDW to coordinate the setting up and monitoring of the annual exhibit
(a post he has continued to serve.)
[This cooperative venture would take place every year since. Annually, a request would go out to the BSF membership to submit photographs of bonsai which they would like to have considered for inclusion in the exhibit. BSF and WDW would then make the final selection. The trees and their owners generally would arrive at WDW the day before the exhibit is to be mounted. Along with a highly professional staff of gardeners and laborers, they would meet at the Japan pavilion and place each tree securely on its display stand. Bonsai are displayed at the torii along the shore of the World Showcase Lagoon and at the "Meadow" behind the Pagoda, as well as on the porch of one of the restaurants. During the Flower and Garden Festival the WDW staff would water the trees twice a day and perform periodic inspections to insure that no tree is in stress or is being attacked by insects or fungus. Several times a week one or more members of the Central Florida Bonsai Club would also check on the condition of the bonsai. The result is a win-win situation for everyone, including all of those park visitors.] ("BSF Exhibit of Bonsai at EPCOT" by Thomas L. Zane, http://www.bonsai-bsf.com/epcot_process.htm ; personal e-mail from Tom Zane to RJB, May 30, 2002) SEE ALSO: Sep 15 |
| 30 | 1998 -- Asteroid 1998 HE43 was discovered by the Spacewatch Project at Kitt Peak Observatory, Arizona. This minor planet, the 12515th one identified, would be given the name "Suiseki" (lit. "water stone"). (Schmadel, Lutz D. Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (Springer, 2003, fifth edition), pg. 784.) SEE ALSO: Dec 14 |
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