| 1 |
1971 -- Twelve people gathered at the Minnetonka YMCA to form what would become the
Minnesota Bonsai Society.
(""Minnesota Celebrations..." in ABStracts, Bonsai Journal, ABS, Vol. 30, No. 3,
Fall 1996, pg. 124)
1990 -- A pair of postage stamps was issued by the Republic of Indonesia under the title of "Flora." One was of a cactus; the other was of a bonsai Wareng. The Gmelina elliptica is S-shaped with a massive whitened trunk bearing deadwood and growing up through moss in a shallow elliptical tray. SEE ALSO: Jan 29, Feb 3, Feb 16, Mar 27, Mar 31, Apr 3, Apr 6, Apr 18, May 6, May 29, Jun 16, Jul 20, Aug 20, Aug 22, Sep 22, Oct 1, Oct 4, Dec 9. |
| 2 |
1985 -- The $25 million Kanuma Nature and Bonsai Park, designed by
Japanese publisher and Satsuki azalea enthusiast Kenko Rokkaku, opened.
Visitors there can enjoy almost 250 masterpiece bonsai of a variety of
species on display in five traditional Japanese style exhibition houses
located on part of approximately 30 acres of scenic forest and wildflowers
surrounded by mountains. One hundred minutes by train from Tokyo,
the complex is operated by Rokkaku's Satsuki Kenyusha publishing company,
includes four miles of wooden paths, and has parking spaces for 400 cars
and thirty buses.
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| 3 | 1951 -- Beginning today and running through the 11th, the California International Flower Show was held at Hollywood Park in Inglewood. At this show, the fledging Southern California Bonsai Club won another first prize for its entry. This group had been officially formed the previous November by John Naka and four friends, Fumiko ("Frank") B. Nagata, Morihei Furuya, Mrs. Ai Okumura, and Joseph Yamashiro, to bring bonsai within the reach of everyone. Mssrs. Nagata, Furuya and Naka, along with their teacher Sam (Tameichi) Doi, one of the early knowledgeable bonsai men in Southern California, had arrived at the 1950 Gabriel Valley Fall Flower and Garden Show at the Fannie E. Morrison Horticulture Center in Pasadena to exhibit their trees. Informed that individuals could not display unless they were sponsored by a club, the quick thinking Frank Nagata spoke up and said they were a club. Without hesitation or benefit of conference he then gave the group's name. These artists were now allowed to enter their trees, which did win a trophy and a blue ribbon at the Show the next day. [And the following month (April 1951) the club would win a special award in the Southern California Spring Flower and Garden Show, again in Pasadena. The group would go on to become one of the most influential in the state and be the training ground of many national and international teachers.] ( Bonsai Techniques (BT) by JYN, pg. 257; "My Husband, the Bonsai Man" by Alice Naka, Bonsai, BCI, Vol. XXV, No. 3, May/June 1986, pg. 22; even monkeys fall out of trees by Nina Shire Ragle (Laguna Beach, CA: Nippon Art Forms; 1987), pp. 7-8; "John Naka at the Atlanta Bonsai Congress '73," by Ann Getman, Bonsai, BCI, Vol. XIII, No. 6, July/August 1974, pg. 28; Bonsai in California, No. 1 (1967), pg. 1; "History of Bonsai West" by Dorothy S. Young, International Bonsai Digest presents Bonsai Gems, Fall 1974, pp. 93-94, also pg. 82; International Bonsai, IBA, 1986/No. 2, pg. 12; "History of California Bonsai Society" by Khan Komai, Bonsai in California, Vol. 3, 1969, pg. 38.) SEE ALSO: Apr 20 |
| 4 | 2001 -- 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." A long-time bonsai nurseryman, Farr has had experience producing varied topic cable programs for both Western and Asian audiences. NOTE: A second 13-part series which will include quite a bit of footage in China currently is in pre-production and negotiations are underway for international release of series one.] (Linsay Farr in personal e-mails to RJB on October 15, 2000 through January 26, 2002, and March 20, 2005 to change URL.) SEE ALSO: May 20, Jun 1, Oct 1 |
| 5 |
1908 -- Architect Frank Lloyd Wright
and others opened a second and more ambitious
exhibition of Japanese woodblock prints at the Art Institute of Chicago. This show,
which would run through March 25, was displayed in six rooms designed by Wright. The 649 prints,
from several local collectors, were hung against gray walls on green cords and simply framed in wood.
Potted bonsai trees were placed on specially constructed platforms to give the exhibition space a
more relaxed and intimate audience. (The first display had been for 3 weeks in the spring of 1906
at the same venue, but with over 200 Hiroshige prints consisting of purchases made by Wright in Japan
one year earlier, and apparently without bonsai.)
(Mirviss, Joan B. The Frank Lloyd Wright Collection of Surimono (New York: Weatherhill Inc.
and Phoenix (AZ) Art Museum; 1995), pp. 25-26, whose Fig. 1 is a photograph of the exhibit showing what
appear to be 2 small conifers in sunken containers on top of half-height pillars/tables by the doorway.
No particular style is identifiable, other than "foot-tall one-gallon nursery specimens with a cut-off apex"
(per RJB); "Exhibition History of The Art Institute, 1905-1909", http://www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/musarchives/archhist1905-1909.html)
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| 8 |
1915 -- Leo Cunningham was born in Gold Creek, MT. [He would graduate from high
school in Wallace, ID and attend Cheney College where he would major in music playing
the violin. In 1940 he would obtain a BA in Business Administration from the
University of Washington and start a career in Industrial Engineering. The Boeing
Company would then hire him as one of the first three Industrial Engineers at that
business. Leo would marry his wife also in 1940, and after four years in
Wichita, KS, they would come to Seattle where their only daughter Jeri Lee would
be born. Leo's interests would range from music, painting, winemaking, and gourmet
cooking to golf and ice skating, but his one true passion after his family would be
bonsai. He would found the Puget Sound Bonsai Association and be its third
president. He would later be president of the American Bonsai Society (1987-90). He would
travel the Far East and Europe many times for his interests, as well as numerous U.S. cities
for seminars and bonsai conventions. In 1988 he would lead the team that would
put together the original Weyerhaeuser Pacific Rim Bonsai collection. In 1992 he
would retire from Boeing.]
Leo Cunningham
("In Memorium...Leo Cunningham," Bonsai Journal, ABS, Vol. 38, No. 4,
Winter 2004, pg. 17.) SEE ALSO: Jan 26, Apr 2, Oct 7, Oct 31.
(ABS Bonsai Journal, Summer 1988, pg. 1) |
| 9 |
1981 -- The Indian Bonsai Association was formed by Dr. Leila Dhanda (Vice-President) and
Dr. Hussain Tayebbhoy (President). The purpose of the association is to propagate
this artform. Twenty-six years later, the group has more than hundred active members.
("Indian Bonsai Association -- Association,"
http://www.bonsai-in-asia.com/.)
SEE ALSO: Nov Also
|
| 10 |
1967 -- Seventeen persons, from all over the U.S. and sponsored by the Bonsai Society of Greater New York,
arrived in Tokyo via Honolulu for the start of a three-week tour of
Japan. [During the first week, the group would attend a
traditional Japanese style dinner hosted by Mr. and Mrs.
Kyuzo Murata,
and participate in a series of lectures, demonstrations, and classes
relating to bonsai. The second week would involve sight-seeing
around Tokyo, visits to the private bonsai collections of Chūzō Ōnuki and
Saburō Katō, and viewing of auction items at the Ueno Bonsai Club. The final week would take
the group to the various celebrated temples of Kyoto, cruising the
inland Sea to Takamatsu and the Kinashi Bonsai village, and via super
express train to the famous "Yamaaki" bonsai container kiln in Tokoname
in Nagoya. One high point of the trip would be seeing the
Imperial Bonsai Collection on the Imperial Palace grounds. There
the group would see a matched pair of ren pine bonsai that were over
180 years old. One of those pines would nine years later be
gifted to the U.S. for its Bicenntennial. Upon returning to the
states, several members of the tour began a dialogue with others
regarding a national bonsai society so that information could be
distributed from coast to coast. From these discussions, the
American Bonsai Society would be born.]
("The 30th Anniversary of ABS" by Jerald Stowell, Journal, ABS, Vol. 31, No. 1,
Spring 1997, pp. 4-7, with 4 b&w photos) SEE ALSO: Feb 28, Mar 20, Jun 9, Jun 15
2003 -- California bonsai nurseryman and teacher Ken Sugawara died. ( "In Memoriam," Kusamura Bonsai Club, http://www.gsbf-bonsai.org/kusamura/april2003/memoriam.html ) SEE ALSO: Aug 1, Nov 6 2009 -- French bonsai artist Michel Sacal died. (He was editor of the bimonthly France Bonsai magazine (1995-2001), president of the French Bonsai Association (1996-2001), edited the French edition of Salvatore Liporace's 2001 book Bonsai, Spirit and Substance (What Color is the Wind?), was editor of the French language edition of Bonsai Europe magazine beginning in the Spring of 2002, and authored the 2003 book Les Bases du Bonsaï: Le guide de l'amateur du bonsaï. Michel demonstrated in the eleven-part Secrets of Bonsai 2006 video series. See teasers for Vol. I ("Welcome to the world of Bonsai") and Vol. II ("Your first steps"). He also created the forum EDG. Ficus carica was a species that Michel promoted heavily.) 
Michel Sacal, 07/2004.
(
"A small Akamatsu pine in tribute to Michel Sacal," Internet Bonsai Club Forum,
http://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/bonsai-f1/a-small-akamatsu-pine-in-tribute-to-michel-sacal-t338.htm;
photos of Michel can be found here.)
(Photo courtesy of Alan Walker, 05/11/07) |
| 11 |
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| 12 |
1917 -- Harry Hirao was born in Lafayette in north-central Colorado. [At age
6, he and his parents would move to Japan to take care of his grandparents.
A decade later Harry would return to live with relatives on the farm.
At age 24 he would marry Chiyoko Alyce Yamamoto. They would live
a simple life as vegetable farmers and also raise two boys and two girls.
In March of 1957 they would move to California and start a landscape business
with the help of relatives. Harry would hear of an old friend, John
Naka, teaching bonsai, and join the class in the early 1960s. After
15 years as a devoted student Harry would become a bonsai teacher himself.
In 1977 he would form Kofu Bonsai Kai in Orange County with a longtime
friend, Larry Ragle. In 1981 he would be honored by Prince Takamatsu
of Japan with an award of the "Ryoku Hakiju Yukosho" medal and by the Japanese
Agricultural Society with a plaque for his contributions to the art of
bonsai in the United States. He would be a nationally known and sought-after
teacher and demonstrator. His particular field of expertise would
earn him the name of "Mr. California Juniper," but he would be versatile
with all species and also be known for his suiseki. He would lead
several trips annually to local rivers, mountains and desert areas to search
for stones and junipers with his students. Friends would fund the
Harry Hirao Reception Room at the John Naka Pavilion for Bonsai at the
National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. Kofu Bonsai Kai would list
over 200 active members by the start of the new century and be one of the
top ranking bonsai clubs in California. "How to be Happy," the first
episode of the PBS series EGG, the arts show, would include a segment
on Harry in 2001 "who has found happiness in remote places, capturing and
training bonsai trees (an artform if there ever was one)."]
|
| 13 | 2001 -- Frederic L. Ballard, the first president of the National Bonsai Foundation, died. (A lawyer from Philadelphia, he had been introduced to the art before 1960 by his wife, Ernesta, who had recently participated in an all-day seminar and workshop given by Yuji Yoshimura. Together they built a collection which included tropical plants suitable for indoor bonsai. He and his wife were founding members of the American Bonsai Society in 1967, which Ernesta and Jerry Stowell had set in motion the previous year. A Ginkgo biloba bonsai owned by the couple had its photograph on the cover of the third issue of the ABS Journal. A noted bonsai teacher and writer whose trees are regularly exhibited in the shows of the Pennsylvania Bonsai Society and Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Frederic demonstrated different techniques for rock plantings at the 1969 ABS Symposium in Philadelphia. With Ernesta he was on that convention's Arrangement Committee and they conducted a tour of their home and collection for the participants. Frederic later became president of the National Bonsai Foundation in 1987 and helped to elevate its fundraising and programmatic sights. He served in that office until early 1996, and became President Emeritus afterwards.) (E-mail from Betty Yeapanis to RJB April 18, 2001; "American Bonsai Society Second Annual Symposium," ABS Journal, Vol. 3, No. 1, Spring 1969, p. 11; "ABS News: Meet the Directors," ABS Journal, Vol. 4, No. 3, Fall 1970, p. 16, which gives 1955 as the date for Yoshimura's seminar. The sensei did arrive at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on a fellowship grant in 1959, but we have not found reference to an earlier visit elsewhere in our researches. ) |
| 14 |
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| 15 |
1909 -- Xu Xiaobai was born in China. [He would become a professor
of horticulture at the Nanjing Agricultural Institute, and be one of the
very first persons in modern China to engage in penjing research.
He would become mentor to Qingquan Zhao, and co-author several books and
articles with his student who himself would become one of the greatest
masters of the art in China. See also the last part of
episode #3
of Lindsay Farr's World of Bonsai, after the 7:35 mark.]
(Karin Albert personal e-mail to RJB, July 15, 2002; "A Chinese Penjing Artist
Visits America" by Karin Albert,
Bonsai, BCI, Vol. XXXI, No. 4, July/August 1992, pp. 12-13.)
SEE ALSO: Apr 20, May 25.
1970 -- Beginning today and running through Sept. 13, a large-scale bonsai and suiseki show was held in conjunction with the Osaka World Exposition in Senri. Sponsored by the Nippon Bonsai Association, the Japan Suiseki Society, and the Japan Satsuki Club, the display was impressively staged on outdoor benches in one portion of the sixty-four acre Japanese garden area. New replacements would be brought in so that during the run approximately two thousand of the most famous and honored trees in the land would be displayed, nearly every one in a 200 to 300-year old Chinese pot. The pots were collectors' items and many were as well known and named as the trees they supported. Morihiko Tomita was the manager in residence of the exhibit, having sold half of his 50-year collection of 600 small bonsai to come to the Expo for six months. (Mr. Tomita was also the discoverer of the mountain where "Kikukaseki" or chrysanthemum stones are found.) ("Bonsai's Top Show" by Dorothy S. Young, Bonsai Journal, ABS, Spring 1970, pp. 3-4)
2006 -- Potter Don Gould was killed in a car accident while trying to go to the
aid of another motorist. He was born in 1951 and went to Duquesne University
in the late 1960s and early 70s. He was described as a "lovable hippie" who
managed the arts and crafts center in the student union. After graduation he
was able to continue producing art while making a living out of his creative enterprises.
Over the years he did graphic design and communications work for various Pittsburgh groups,
including WQED and Carnegie Libraries. He was a ceramicist, product designer,
printmaker and social entrepreneur. Working with potters and ceramic engineers,
he started an organization PURE WATER 4 ALL dedicated to improving water quality in
Third World countries with the use of relatively simple ceramic filter pots. He
was probably one of the top three American potters who made bonsai and suiseki containers.
His pots were known nationally and internationally, and he had been one of the lecturers in May
2005 at the WBFF Convention in Washington, D.C. Shortly after leaving a morning meeting of the
Rotary Club in mid-March 2006, Don stopped to check on one of the other drivers involved in a small
traffic accident. Another driver came up around the bend of the ramp where this was
at and lost control of his car on the icy roadway, pinning and killing Don at the scene.
[He leaves behind his wife, Sally; son, Ian; and daughter, Abby. In honor of Don, a deep
water well in a natural reserve in Nicaragua will be drilled, underwritten
by the Rotary Club of Forest Hills and assisted by the Tulsa chapter. Also, please see this recent
posting about some of his pots.] 
Don Gould talking about pot selection at the ABS 1995 Convention
(e-mail
by Peter Aradi to the Internet Bonsai Club, April 25, 2006,
http://internetbonsaiclub.org/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=133&topic=18810.0;
Sostek, Anya "Obituary: Donald J. Gould / Artist in ceramic, glass and bonsai,"
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 17, 2006; "In Memorium: Don Gould,"
http://pghaccelerator.org/blog/globeshakers/, March 20, 2006.)
(ABS Bonsai Journal, Summer 1995, pg. 69) |
| 16 |
1961 -- Pedro J. Morales Orellana was born in Chicago, IL. [His
family would move back to Puerto Rico when he was only three months
old. Starting with his family in the ornamental plant field, he
would later work part-time in Jardin Selecto during his studies of
computer programming at the University of P.R. A teacher during
Pedro's first year in university in 1980 would assign the latter the
subject of bonsai for a research project. From this Pedro would
meet Hugo Storer, the first person of bonsai in Puerto Rico.
Pedro would go on to become prominent in Central American bonsai.
He would demonstrate at the 1993 WBFF Convention in Florida.]
Pedro Morales, 06/18/2004.
("Biography - Pedro J. Morales,"
http://www.pedrojmorales.com/bio.htm
) SEE ALSO June 28
(Photo courtesy of Alan Walker, 05/11/07) 1968 -- Third generation penjing master Yee-Sun Wu entered the First Urban Council Flower Show in Hong Kong and won the Kadoorie Championship Cup for Bonsai. [Over the next six years he would enter or put on a few other exhibitions of his masterpieces to large crowds, publish two editions of his book Man Lung Garden Artistic Pot Plants, deliver public lectures, and contribute articles on dwarf tree culture to various magazines and newspapers. This would all stir up the interest of the Chinese people to revive this traditional art which had become synonymous with Japan.] ( Man Lung Artistic Pot Plants by Yee-Sun Wu, pp. 24, 27-28) SEE ALSO: Mar 27, May 2, May 11, Jul 7, Dec 14 |
| 17 |
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| 18 |
1916 -- Shigeru Nagatoshi was born. [He would study bonsai under his teacher, Mr. Iura, and in 1965
be encouraged to open Fuji Bonsai Nursery in Sylmar, CA with his son, Roy.]
(Per personal e-mail from Max Miller to RJB, Apr. 30, 2006; Banting, Donna
"Roy Nagatoshi and Pomegranate," Bonsai, BCI, Vol. XXX, No. 1, January/February 1991, pg. 3.) SEE ALSO: Feb 19
|
| 19 |
1951 -- Nobuyuki Kajiwara was born in Fukuoka, Japan. [He would
study Middle Eastern Languages and literature at the Osaka University
of Foreign Studies, then at the Rijks Universiteit at Leiden,
Netherlands. Travelling widely in Europe for both business and
pleasure, in 1983 he would then return to Tokyo. At the office of
the City and Port of Rotterdam there he would be given the task of
organizing a Japan Festival in Rotterdam in 1984. One of the
events for that would be a bonsai exhibition. While there he
would have his first introduction to bonsai and make an acquaintance of
Terukichi Katō, the younger brother of Saburō and Hideo Katō.
Kajiwara would be Terukichi Katō's apprentice at the family's Masei-en
Shiten nursery from 1986 through 1991, when he would then obtain a
diploma from the Japanese Cooperative of Professional Bonsai Nurseries
(Nihon Bonsai Kyodo Kumiai). Returning to Europe that year, the
next he would be appointed chief instructor at the "Universita del
Bonsai" at Parabiago near Milan for their 3-year bonsai courses.
In 1993, Kajiwara would be awarded Gold medals at the International
Garden Show held in Stuttgart for the bonsai exhibition jointly
produced with the client, Helmut Rueger. Two years later he would
also jointly produce a bonsai exhibition at the castle in Buedigen,
Germany, and then another in 1998 at the "Palmen Garten," the municipal
botanical garden of the city of Frankfort. The next year would
see him producing a successful bonsai exhibition for the auction house
Sotherby's in London. He would then hold annual workshops with
several groups in the U.K. as well as attending private bonsai
collections on a regular basis for clients in the U.K., Germany, Italy,
and Spain.]
("Noboyuki [sic] Kajiwara - A Portrait,"
http://www.bonsai-corner.ch/nobu_portrait1.htm
; "Nobuyuki Kajiwara,"
http://www.dai-ichibonsai.com/tutors.asp
) SEE ALSO: Oct 8
|
| 20 | 1975 -- Fifty trees that would become the permanent National Arboretum Bonsai Collection were accepted by Arboretum Director Dr. John Creech in ceremonies in Tokyo, Japan. Presented by the Nippon Bonsai Association in honor of the upcoming U.S. Bicentennial, half of the miniature trees were donations from private sources, including some from members of the Royal Japanese family. The remaining trees were purchased with funds from the Japan Foundation, a semi-official agency which also covered expenses for expert artists to come to the U.S. to instruct American personnel in proper care of these irreplaceable treasures. ( Bonsai, BCI, June 1975, pg. 139) SEE ALSO: Feb 19, Apr 1, May 2, Jun 9, Jul 9, Jul 21, Aug 6, Aug 7, Aug 26, Sep 30, Oct 1, Oct 15 |
| 21 | 2003 -- Mary E. Mrose, multi-talented grand-dame of the Northern Virginia Bonsai Society of the Potomac Bonsai Society, died. She was a major benefactor of the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum. (Personal e-mail from Betty V. Yeapanis to RJB, March 24, 2003) SEE ALSO: May 2, May 17 |
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| 23 |
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| 24 | 2002 -- Stanley Chinn, a little known penjing master in Wheaton, MD, died from pneumonia. (Born some 60 years earlier in China, at a young age he trained for six years at his uncle's penjing nursery before they both came to the U.S. around 1950. Stanley never achieved more than a limited command of the English language and was detached from the modern world around him. He earned his living as a chef. Chinese clubs and churches up and down the East coast were where he taught penjing. In 2001 he invited the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum staff to visit his collection and select trees from his hundreds of penzai. Ten of the creations were chosen for accessioning into the Museum's collection. These included a Sichuan School dancing dragon style root-over-rock Trident maple, another Trident composition of five trees planted on the rock and all grafted together at different locations, and a naturalistic forest of Chinese elm. They now allow the representation at the Museum of all of the Chinese schools of dwarf potted trees instead of just the Lingnan. Twelve other trees became part of the Montreal Botanical Garden's collection and another -- also a root-over-rock Trident maple -- went to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. [Fifty three more creations would be sold in a silent auction at the National Arboretum in autumn, raising approximately $8,000 for the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum. As James Rieden, a friend of Chinn's, would say after the auction, "This is probably the last time anyone will have the opportunity to see this many trees styled in the Chinese penjing method assembled in one spot."]) ("Recognizing the Work of a Master" by Adrian Higgins, Washington Post, Nov. 14, 2002, pg. H-6; "A Word from the Curator" by Jack Susic, NBF Bulletin, Winter 2002, Vol. XIII, No. 2, pg. 4; "My Memories of Stanley Chinn" by Janet Lanman, same source, pg. 4, and "Stanley Chinn: Master of Penjing" by Tony Meyer, same source, pg. 5.) |
| 25 |
1995 -- An olive bonsai, originally collected from an olive ranch
in Fontana, CA on July 4, 1958 and then also designed by him, was
donated this day by John Naka to the Golden State Bonsai Federation
Collection at the Huntington Botanic Garden.
("GSBF Collection at the Huntington,"
http://www.gsbf-bonsai.org/huntington/GSBFHuntGalleryBonsai.html, accessed 03/17/03)
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| 26 |
1921 -- Doris Froning was born. [She would become a nationally known
shohin
bonsai artist, specializing in trees six inches or shorter in height. She would
be president of the America Bonsai Society and editor of its
ABStracts
newsletter. In 1975 she would found, edit and publish (for twenty years)
The Mame Growers of America
newsletter and club. She would be a frequent contributor to various
bonsai magazines, conduct numerous lecture/demonstrations, and be active
in the Pennsylvania Bonsai Society. At least one of her tiny trees would
be in the North American Collection of the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum.]
Doris W. Froning
("IBC Stars," Bonsai, BCI, Vol. XXVII,
No. 2, March/April 1988; conversation with RJB during the International
Scholarly Symposium on Bonsai and Viewing Stones, May 18, 2002, Washington, D.C.)
(ABS Bonsai Journal, Winter 1985, pg. 1) |
| 27 |
1985 -- A collection of thirty prized penjing donated by third-generation
artist Yee-Sun Wu of Hong Kong to the Montreal Botanic Garden was unveiled.
[Within four months almost a quarter million people would visit the collection
which was receiving excellent care. So much major local and national
radio, television, and print coverage was given to the trees that Mr. Wu
would donate another seventeen of his outstanding treasures to the City
of Montreal before the year ended.]
(
International Bonsai, 1985/No. 4, pg. 20) SEE ALSO: Mar 16, May
2, May 11, July 7, Dec 14
1999 -- A set of four postage stamps commemorating the Bonsai Exhibition
there was issued by the
Republic of San Marino.
SEE ALSO: Jan 29, Feb 3, Feb 16,
Mar 1, Mar 31, Apr 3, 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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| 28 |
1940 -- Noboru Kaneko was born in Japan. [After studying the
technique of bonsai art in Saburō Katō's Mansei-en Nursery, Noboru would
establish his own nursery, Isei-en. His fine work would be recognized
with at least three prizes in the Sakufu Ten exposition for bonsai professionals
and by his appointment as a board member of the Nippon Bonsai Association.]
(
Bonsai Today, No. 24, pg. 12)
1983 -- A Japanese White Pine and a persimmon bonsai were presented to President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan by His Majesty Hassan II, king of Morocco. The trees came from his personal collection. ("Spring Festival Celebrates Asian Horticultural Arts - Bonsai, Ikebana, Suiseki in Spotlight," Friends of the National Arboretum, http://www.fona.org/members/spring01/festival.html ; The National Arboretum Book of Outstanding Garden Plants by Jacqueline Hériteau, NY: Simon & Schuster; 1990, pp. xx)
1996 -- Beginning today and running through Aug. 18, the Asia Society Galleries in New York presented "Worlds within Worlds: The Richard Rosenblum Collection of Chinese Scholars' Rocks." More than 70 examples of this art assembled by an American sculptor over the past 25 years provided a strangely provocative exhibition, full of beautiful and sometimes haunting objects that make us question where we are standing when we look at nature and see art. Although most of the rocks were but a few inches high and sitting on carved wooden bases, the outstanding example was nearly six feet tall and just nine inches wide. Honorable Old Man (16th - 17th century) was craggy and rough as a tree branch, the stripped down image of a Chinese sage. Its inscription was effaced and its pedestal removed in the 1960s to disguise it as a mere rock, and thus save it from the iconoclasts of the Cultural Revolution. ("chinese scholars' rocks, simultaneously original and simulacrum" by John Mendelsohn, http://www.artnet.com/magazine/features/mendelsohn/mendelsohn8-26-96.asp ) 2010 -- Omiya Bonsai Art Museum opened in Saitama, Japan, with the commemoration running through May 5. This is the world's first publicly-run museum of its kind. The collection of the former Takagi Bonsai Museum of Art formed the nucleus, as well as bonsai pots, stones of appreciation (Suiseki), and paintings such as ukiyo-e wood block paintings depicting bonsai. The museum will pursue three pillars of activities: Firstly, it will conduct investigations and research into the history and significance of various bonsai and bonsai-related traditional arts from multiple perspectives including art history, craft history and the history of horticulture. The high-level results would then be made public in an easily understandable way through exhibitions, courses, lectures and publications. Secondly, as a new attraction on par with the Railway Museum, the Bonsai Museum seeks to become a sightseeing hub where not only local citizens, but also visitors from throughout Japan and abroad can readily experience how magnificent and interesting bonsai is. Thirdly, visitors to the museum may also visit the city's bonsai gardens in and around the Bonsai Village, becoming strong supporters of the bonsai industry as a traditional industry. At any one time the new museum will be displaying approximately 50 of their 100 top quality bonsai. The rest will be rotated into display as the seasons change.
Floorplan, ©2010 The Omiya Bonsai Art Museum
("Opening of Omiya Bonsai Art Museum," posting by hokkoku to Internet Bonsai Club Forum, 27 Mar 2010,
http://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/announcements-f5/opening-of-omiya-bonsai-art-museum-t2631.htm;
"Greeting," http://www.bonsai-art-museum.jp/english/sisetsu/greeting.php)
SEE ALSO: Jan 4, Apr 27
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| 29 |
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| 30 |
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1940 -- Masahiko Kimura was born in Omiya, Japan. [His prolific inventor father would die when Masahiko was 11.
The comforts of early years changed to harder times at their home, the "Peacock Garden" (named for the many peacocks on
the grounds). Land was sold off to help in survival, and young Masahiko went to work delivering papers to help
with the family finances. By the wishes of his mother, at age 15 he would start spending his time as an apprentice
under the bonsai master Motosuke Hamano of Toju-en Bonsai Garden where Masahiko was a part-time worker. This
would be for eleven years until about 1966. (Kimura would later say that during
his teens he really wanted to be a rock and roll musician. A usual apprenticeship is five years, but, as he would
later say, he had no money to start his own nursery so he would remain and continue his training with Hamano-san.)
A silent benefactor would finally help him open a greenery shop in Tokyo, and through long days of hard work Kimura made it a
success. Later he would manufacture potting soil and then expande into indoor plant rentals to hotels, restaurants and
offices. This would also be successful, enabling him to devote more time to his bonsai. He would go on to become
known as the "Magical Technician of Kindai Shuppan," though he would say that he personally didn't really care for
the title of "Magician." His breathtaking sculpting and styling of trees on behalf of that Kyoto bonsai magazine
publisher would be done using hand and power tools of his own design beginning in 1980.
His skill with carving deadwood would quickly make him well-known in the bonsai community. While his work would at
first be highly controversial, his energy and vision would soon became as respected as his art. A characteristic of
his trees would be a defined interplay of artistically sculptured deadwood with a smaller amount of more traditionally
appearing live wood snaking up from the soil to foliage apex. Many of his trees would have a more elaborate
starkness than is ordinarily found in the wild, innovatively creative without historic model. Because of Kimura's
willingness to break with convention, many in Japan would refuse to take him seriously, at least in the early years. Some
would claim that these bonsai would not live after such drastic treatment. But his first thought would be that the trees
he works on must live and he knew his critics were wrong.
No one later would dispute Kimura's genius or his pioneering position in the bonsai world. [The sometimes controversial author and videotape producer would travel in many countries, doing presentations and demonstrations. He would first demonstrate and conduct a workshop outside of Japan at the 1987 Golden State Federation Bonsai Convention in Anaheim, California. Kimura would demonstrate at these major conventions, among others: Golden State Bonsai Federation (1987 Anaheim, 1990 Burlingame and 2006 Sacramento); World Bonsai Friendship Federation (1989 Omiya, Japan and 1997 Seoul, Korea); European Bonsai Association (1990 Turin, Italy and 1992 Luxembourg); Bonsai Clubs International (1992 Memphis, Tennessee, 1996 Washington, D.C. and 2006 Foshan City, China); American Bonsai Society Symposium (2000 Detroit, Michigan); Asia-Pacific Bonsai and Suiseki Exhibition and Convention (2003 Manila, Philippines); Federatión Latino Americana de Bonsai (2003 Caracas, Venezuela); and Association of Australian Clubs (2005 Sydney). His work as documented in the form of articles and photographs would grace the pages of many major specialty publications around the world. Trees designed by him (mostly Juniperus chinensis var. shimpaku) would win the prestigious Prime Minister's Award for the years 1988, 1995, 2000, and 2001, and the Minister of Education Award in 1999. He would have a number of students and apprentices from Japan, Europe, and America, several of which would go on to become masters in their own right. These would include Marco Invernizzi, Salvatore Liporace, and Ernie Kuo. Katsuhito Onishi would edit the Japanese texts The Magical Technician of Kindai Shuppan in 1982, Part II in 1984, and Part III in 1989. The English version, made up of Part II with some of Part I, would be published as The Bonsai Art of Kimura by Stone Lantern Publishing Co. in 1992. The Magician: the Bonsai Art of Kimura 2 would be released in 2007 by Stone Lantern. A Spanish translation, Masahiko Kimura: el técnico mágico del bonsai actual would be published in 1988 by Ediciones Tyris, S.A., and one in Italian, Masahiko Kimura, Il grande tecnico del bonsai, would be published by Luni in 1996. Kimura's wife, who often greeted tours to their Omiya garden and served tea and goodies to the visitors, died November 23, 2009. See also episode #5 of Lindsay Farr's World of Bonsai, as well as this Spanish demo.] 
Masahiko Kimura in Argentina, 11/12/2003.
(Urbanski, Kay "The World of Masahiko Kimura," Bonsai Journal, ABS, Winter 1991, pp. 12-14; "Tree Art:
6 Amazingly Creative Bonsai Artists," http://webecoist.com/2009/06/09/tree-art-6-amazingly-creative-bonsai-artists/;
"Art of Bonsai Profile: Masahiko Kimura," http://www.artofbonsai.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=942;
"Artist Profile: William N. Valavanis," http://bonsaijournal.com/profile-valavanis.php;
Lind, Gunter "Bonsai, Art and Kimura," http://www.bonsaipots.net/index.php?page=art-and-kimura;
"The Magician: The Bonsai Art of Kimura 2," http://www.bonsaitrees.com/detail.php?id=710;
"Masterpieces," http://www.j-bonsai.com/masterpieces.html;
Liporace, Salvatore "Slanting a Juniperus prostrata to create the correct angle,"
http://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/Liporace%20Demo%20page1.htm;
"Pacific Northwest Bonsai Clubs Association Bonsai Instructors," http://pnbca.com/instructors.html;
"Sad News From Omiya," William N. Valavanis posting to Internet Bonsai Club, 29 Nov 2009,
http://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/announcements-f5/sad-news-from-omiya-t1813.htm.)
(Photo courtesy of Alan Walker, 05/11/07) 1981 -- " Miniature landscapes," a set of six postage stamps, was issued by the Peoples' Republic of China (Mainland China). SEE ALSO: Jan 29, Feb 3, Feb 16, Mar 1, Mar 27, Apr 3, 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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Also this month,
1934 -- The first Kokufu kai bonsai exhibition was held at Ueno Park, Tokyo, in the grounds of the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. Since the gallery has always been extremely sensitive in the types of shows that it allows there, this gave bonsai a new status. It was now unquestionable that bonsai was an accepted and respected art form. [A second Kokufu Ten show would be held in the autumn, and after that the shows would become annual events -- being suspended only during the Pacific War and then being resumed in 1947. These oldest continuous shows would quickly become also the most important and famous bonsai displays in both Japan and the world.] (Koreshoff, Deborah R. Bonsai; Its Art, Science, History and Philosophy (Portland, OR: Timber Press, 1997), pg. 10, footnote 31 derived from Kobayashi, Norio, "History of Bonsai" -- excerpted and translated from a series of articles appearing in "Bonsai-Tsu," in Western Suburbs Bonsai Journal, Oct. 1972, pg. 10; ) SEE ALSO: Feb 11 1965 -- Bonsai, Culture and Care of Miniature Trees was published, the first edition of Sunset 's book The illustrated 80-page 8.3 x 10.7" paperback had a list price of $1.95. [The first printing of 17,500 copies would be sold out in a month, and 6,000 more would be sold in the next few months. It would be the most successful of the 18 low-priced gardening books that Lane Books Co. of Menlo Park, CA had published at that time. It would be in its tenth printing by April 1970, with a revised 80-page second edition published in 1976 for $2.95, a revised 96-page third edition in May 1994 for $9.95, and a revised 128-page fourth edition by Susan Lang in January 2003 with a list price of $14.95. Each edition would be a reasonable introduction to this wonder-filled art/hobby.]
2001 -- Early this month Dorothy S. Young died. (In the late 1950’s Dorothy became actively interested in bonsai as she had a supply of rejected poorly-shaped culls from the Keith Valley Nursery, a wholesale organization operated by her and her husband, Luther, in Spring House, PA. Keith Valley was also one of the first bonsai nurseries on the east coast. A handful of bonsai fanciers met in the mid-1960s at her home in Spring House and gave substance to several years of wishing: the establishment of a group that would serve the interests of all bonsai enthusiasts throughout North America. Dorothy was thus one of the founders of The American Bonsai Society, and served as its president from 1973 through 1976. She was the first editor for the ABS Journal (1967 to 1972), consulting editor (1977 to 1978), editorial advisor (1979 to 1985), and supplied over thirty articles to that periodical. A charter member and founder of the Pennsylvania Bonsai Society, she was also the first editor of that club's newsletter. She was one of the assistants for Yuji Yoshimura as Master in Residence for his "Practical Applications -- Creation of the Five Basic Styles" presentation during the 1978 ABS Symposium in Ithaca, NY. She also participated in the 1971 BCI Convention in Cleveland, OH as well as the1975 ABS Symposium in Kansas City, MO. A true pioneering spirit in American bonsai, she authored an excellent textbook on the subject Bonsai, The Art and Technique (1985). Dorothy and her husband, along with the Rosades, conducted a bonsai tour of Japan in 1970. While in Japan, she was able to study another of her interests, that of Japanese brush painting. She and Luther would conduct several tours to Japan. 
Lynn Perry & Dorothy Young, 04/07/1989.
("Comment," Journal, ABS, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1967 Spring, pg. 2; Stowell, Jerald P. "Dorothy White,"
http://www.bonsai-wbff.org/nabf/newsletter3/young.htm
; "Falling Leaves, March 2001,"
http://www.pabonsai.org/pbsnewarchive01.html
) SEE ALSO: Feb 19, Jun 15.
(Photo courtesy of Alan Walker, 05/11/07) 2009 -- Seven hundred years ago this month, the series of twenty scrolls comprising Kasuga-gongen-genki ( Picture Scroll of the Incarnations and Miracles at the Kasuga Temple ) was presented to the Kasuga Shrine in Nara, Japan for dedication. This was the patron shrine of the Fujiwara family. The series depict some 56 miraculous accounts which occurred between 937 and 1304. In particular, the fifth scroll contains images of the residence of a Fujiwara governor named Toshimori (1120-c.1180). A birdcage and tray landscapes add to the revelation of the owner's wealth along with the spaciousness and rich decoration of the architecture. The miniature landscapes are probably exotics imported from China. This scroll is the third oldest but most widely known of the oldest authenticated Japanese depictions of dwarfed potted trees. 
Kasuga-gongen-genki, 5th scroll
(Okudaira, Hideo Narrative Picture Scrolls, Arts of Japan 5
(New York: Weatherhill Inc. & Tokyo: Shibundo; 1963, 1973), pg. 121; plus others from note 4 of
Japanese Portrayals up to 1600.)
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