What Happened On This Date in "Recent" Bonsai History?
JUNE
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2006 -- 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.
A total of about 20 episodes is planned. "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 series is being permanently
archived. Another location for downloading is
here.
(personal e-mails from Lindsay to RJB on May 20, May 22, and Jul 31, 2006) SEE ALSO: Mar 4, May 20
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1987 -- Mr. Yamanakajima of Kaitani, Japan died in an
accident. He was one of the last collectors of the naturally
dwarfed shimpaku junipers (
Juniperus chinensis
sargentii) found
growing in the mountains in Niigata Prefecture near the western coast
of Honshu. Called Itoigawa Shimpaku in reference to the town
there where they were bought and sold after being collected, these
specimens have been highly prized by bonsai enthusiasts for a
century.
("The Shimpaku Juniper: Its Secret
History, Chapter VIII: Supply Diminished, Dangers Increased" and
"Chapter IV: Famous Collector, Tahei Suzuki" by Kazuki Yamanaka,
Kindai Bonsai Magazine, June 2003, translated by Ikuyo Shisaka for World Bonsai Friendship Federation,
http://www.bonsai-wbff.org/shimpaku/shim8.shtml
and
http://www.bonsai-wbff.org/shimpaku/shim4.shtml
) SEE ALSO: May 4
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| 6 | 1960 -- Frank Iura and several fellow bonsai and suiseki enthusiasts founded the Los Angeles Bonsai Club. [The club's annual exhibitions would be highly anticipated in the bonsai community. The final gathering of members would be held in in February 1998.] ("Over 50 years, bonsai clubs in Southern California growing," Cultural News June 2006, http://bonsai.culturalnews.net/bonsaiclub.html, excerpted from the article "Bonsai in Los Angeles: A History of the Early Years, 1933-1975" by Ray Yeager. Photo of Iura and associates can be found on pg. 1 of California Aiseki Kai May 2007 newsletter, http://www.aisekikai.com/resources/may+newsletter+07.pdf.) |
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1927 -- Jerald P. Stowell was born in Kalamazoo, MI. The
middle of three brothers who survived beyond infancy out of ten births,
his parents were a papermill worker and a housewife. [And while his
older and younger brothers would be taught boxing and hunting by their
father, Jerry would be subject to hospitalizations, including one year
in a body cast for a condition which arose during childhood. Jerry
would have special state-provided schooling that would eventually result
in his career as an occupational therapist and a commercial illustrator.
While in New York in 1954 after graduation, he would encounter the bonsai
trees at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens and for six weeks make the trip in
the evenings to take the course given there. Five years later he
would study under Yuji Yoshimura. In 1963 he would be temporary chairman
of the original group of 18 persons who'd meet formally to organize the
Bonsai Society of Greater New York with Yoshimura's help and become its
charter president. Four years later his efforts helped 17 Americans
travel to Japan to study under the master
Kyuzo
Murata. On the return flight, Stowell and several others would
decide that bonsai in this country needed a focus larger than the varied
groups scattered about, and out of the New York club came the American
Bonsai Society. (Not all of the New York people would agree with
the decision, including Yoshimura.) Jerry would be the first president
of the ABS. Five more trips to Japan -- where the blue-eyed and bald
Stowell would make quite an impression -- two books, several convention
engagements and club demonstrations, scores of wild-collected trees, numerous
articles and book reviews later, Jerry would be re-creating with plants
and rocks in a wooden container for the International Scholarly Symposium
in 2002 the pre-bonsai tray landscape as portrayed in the 1309 Japanese
Kasuga
Gongen Kenkie
scroll. He also wrote the article on Bonsai for the "Japan Art History" section (Vol. 17, pp. 365-368) of
The Dictionary of Art
edited by Jane Turner (Oxford University Press, 1996).]
("ABS News: Meet
the Directors,"
Journal, ABS, Vol. 4, No. 3, Fall 1970, pg. 16,
which incorrectly gives the year of study with Yoshimura as 1957; conversations
with RJB during and program from the International Scholarly Symposium
on Bonsai and Viewing Stones, May 18, 2002, Washington, D.C.)
SEE ALSO: Jan 12, Jun 15
1983 -- A new entrance garden and walkway to the Japanese Bonsai Pavilion at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. was dedicated. Leading visitors to the entire Bonsai Complex, the garden was a gift of the D.C. Chapter No. 1, Ikebana International. ( International Bonsai, 1983/No. 2, pg. 27) SEE ALSO: Mar 20, May 2, Aug 26, Sep 30, Oct 1, Oct 15 |
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| 15 | 1968 -- The first annual meeting and symposium of the American Bonsai Society was held in Cleveland, Ohio. Jerald Stowell was the first president. ( Journal, ABS, Fall 1968, pp. 10-11) SEE ALSO: Jan 12, Jun 9 |
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1973 -- The Yama Ki Bonsai Society was established at the home of former
Bonsai Society of Greater New York president Jerome Meyer. In addition
to Jerry and his wife Charlotte, seven people from the Westchester and
Fairfield county area attended the meeting. [With Jerry as the first
president, the Society participated in two garden shows that September,
the first of what was to become a tradition of being requested to and participating
in all appropriate area shows of note. The first exhibit of Yama
Ki was at the Burke Rehabilitation Hospital Flower and Garden Show in White
Plains, NY. Thirty member trees were shown at this, which would become
an annual event for several years. Later in the month 18 trees were
displayed at the Westchester Mens' Garden Club Show held at the Allstate
Insurance Company Headquarters in White Plains.]
("Yama
Ki Bonsai Society, The Beginning...,"
http:www.yamakibonsai.org/yama_ki_history.htm
) SEE ALSO: Jul 26.
1986 -- Vietnam issued a set of eight postage stamps featuring native styles of bonsai. SEE ALSO: Jan 29, Feb 3, Feb 16, Mar 1, Mar 27, Mar 31, Apr 3, Apr 6, Apr 18, May 6, May 29, Jul 20, Aug 20, Aug 22, Sep 22, Oct 1, Oct 4, Dec 9. |
| 17 | 1999 -- For the first time since November 1900, bonsai were auctioned at a public event in London. Sotheby's offered some twenty-one trees from the German collection of Helmut Ruger, with estimated values ranging from £600 to over £10,000. The youngest tree in the lot was a 28-year old informal upright Satsuki Azalea, while the elder statesman was a c.600-year old informal upright Japanese Yew which had delighted the Meiji emperor a century earlier in Hokkaido. Hoping to further promote the art in the West through such a high-profile auction, Ruger was present in London to assist with the care of the trees during their stay at Sotheby's. Bidding in the tree-lined room was solid, most trees reaching their estimate, the lion's share going to the same telephone bidder. The "Tree of the Emperor's Gaze" yew, however, remained unsold. [ Japanese Works of Art, Prints and Paintings catalog, Sotheby's; Oriental Art, Vol. XLV, No. 3, 1999, pg. 91] |
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| 19 | 1996 -- Southern California teacher and nurseryman Kahn Komai died at age 82 near his home in Temple City. He had studied under his father-in-law, pioneer bonsai teacher Frank Nagata; had opened his own nursery in 1958; was co-founder of the Santa Anita Bonsai Society, the Satsuki Azalea Bonsai Society and the Golden State Bonsai Federation; and was recognized with a medal from the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture for his work in the art of bonsai. For many years he was the California Bonsai Society's master of ceremonies and spokesman at its annual shows. He and his wife Kay traveled throughout the U.S. and abroad helping spread the art. ("In Memory" by Marybel Balendonck, Bonsai, BCI, September/October 1996, pp. 28-29) SEE ALSO: Sep 9 |
| 20 | 1986 -- The Karate Kid, Part II was released in the U.S. Taking place in Okinawa, its bonsai trees would fair poorly as Sato's henchmen sent a warning to Miyagi-san. (The Internet Movie Database, http://us.imdb.com/ReleaseDates?0091326 ) |
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| 22 | 1984 -- Interest in bonsai received a shot in the arm today with the U.S. release of the Columbia Pictures film The Karate Kid. When we first see "Mr. Kesuke Miyagi" ( Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita ), he is in his workshed surrounded by perhaps half a dozen small to medium potted trees. Later when "Daniel LaRusso" (Ralph Macchio) visits him again and expresses some interest in bonsai, Mr. Miyagi encourages the reluctant Daniel-san to trim a juniper. Miyagi: "Close eye[s]. Trust. Concentrate. Think only tree. Make a perfect picture down to last pine [sic] needle. Wipe mind clean [of] everything but tree. Nothing in this whole world -- only tree. You got it? Open eye[s]. Remember picture? Make like picture. Just trust picture." Daniel: "But how will I know if my picture's the right one?" Miyagi: "If come from inside you, always right one." [The movie would cause children for the next decade to gleefully shout out "Look, Karate Kid" whenever they happened upon bonsai stands or displays.] ( http://us.imdb.com/ReleaseDates?0087538 ) |
| 23 | 1973 -- The first annual Great Lakes Regional Bonsai Show began its two-day run in Cleveland, Ohio. The bonsai exhibit featured both "Judged" and "Exhibition Only" Divisions. The Feature exhibit were three saikei created by Toshio Kawamoto at Bonsai Congress '72 in Kansas City. All three of these superb saikei were won by bonsai growers in the area and all three graciously agreed to exhibit here. Demonstration rooms and commercial booths also emphasized regional experience in the show co-sponsored by the Garden Center of Greater Cleveland and the Cleveland Bonsai Club, with cooperation from Youngstown and other Bonsai Clubs of the area. (Tooker, Larry and Leo Collins "Great Lakes Regional Bonsai Show," Bonsai, BCI, Vol. XII, No. 1, Jan./Feb. 1973, pg. 9) |
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| 28 | 1994 -- Hugo Storer, known as the first person of bonsai in Puerto Rico, passed away. Born March 8, 1908, he had visited the Brooklyn Botanical Garden sometime between 1944 and 1948. Seeing bonsai there for the first time, he acquired books and information for his return to P.R. There he started several types of tropical plants from seed. In July 1970 he founded and was first president of the Horticultural Society of P.R. to study native and imported exotic plants and organize activities on this behalf. In 1977, to promote bonsai to all corners of the island, he organized a group which would later be called Club Bonsai de P.R. ("History of Bonsai in Puerto Rico," http://www.pedrojmorales.com/bonsaipr.htm ) SEE ALSO June 28 |
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| 30 | 1989 -- The third installment of The Karate Kid saga was released in the U.S. Of special interest is the fact that California teachers James Barrett and Roy Nagatoshi are listed in the credits as "Bonsai Plant Advisors." Their work included constructing at least three break-away "stunt doubles" for Mr. Miyagi's juniper, so that it could be torn apart by the bad guys. ( http://us.imdb.com/ReleaseDates?0097647 ) SEE ALSO: Jun 30, Nov 11 |
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Also this month,
1921 -- The Bonsai Promotion Group organized by Seian Shimuzu and others was formed in Tokyo. [They would hold monthly exhibitions and publish what would become a very influential magazine, Bonsai. The group would be disbanded after the Sept. 1923 Great Earthquake, but the magazine would continue for nearly half a century.] (Koreshoff, Deborah R. Bonsai; Its Art, Science, History and Philosophy (Portland, OR: Timber Press, 1997), pg. 9) SEE ALSO: Sep 1 |
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