|
Jihei Katō had been in the horticultural business in mid-19th century
Japan. His son, Tomekichi, established the Mansei-en nursery in
Tokyo. At that nursery could be gotten orchids, evergreens and
foliage plants. Tomekichi traveled extensively throughout
Japan and became recognized for his knowledge of plants. After
his business had become well established, he began to also develop an
interest in bonsai. As he and his wife produced only five
daughters and no sons, the family name could not continue unless a man
was willing to marry into the family and assume the family name of his
wife -- a relatively common practice in Japan. It was also a
common practice for an apprentice to assume the name of his mentor upon
the latter's passing.
Enter a young man who had been born on January 4, 1883 into the Taketa family. As a young man he had developed a keen interest in horticulture and bonsai. He wanted to study under the guidance of Tomekichi Katō, but Katō-san did not want to have any students. Taketa persisted and eventually was allowed to work and learn at Mansei-en. After two years of basic cleaning work he was allowed to care for the bonsai trees. Learning the techniques of grafting and wiring, he began to creatively develop nice bonsai -- which he sold to Tomekichi. Taketa was eventually allowed to marry the nurseryman's oldest daughter, and he thus assumed the Katō family name. (It was either when his father-in-law died that Taketa assumed the name of Tomekichi Katō II or at the time he assumed responsibility of the now exclusively-bonsai Mansei-en). Now, he was especially fond of shimpaku ( Juniperus chinensis ), goyo-matsu ( Pinus parviflora, five-needle pine), tosho ( Juniperus rigida, needle juniper), and ezo-matsu ( Picea glehni Mast., aka Picea jezoensis, Ezo spruce). The latter had been lovingly cultivated by a certain group of bonsai artists since the late nineteenth century, but they were not fully recognized for their potential until around the time of the Great War when many trees from the north were being brought into Honshu, the main island of Japan. Tomekichi Katō (II), an outstanding master and second-generation proprietor of the Mansei-en Bonsai Garden, was the one first taken with the beauty of the Ezo spruce. He promptly brought them back from Hokkaido and popularized them. Ezo spruce would not grow vigorously because of the impeded development of their roots and would continue to survive and grow a little because of some small fine roots growing in the upper part of the layer of sphagnum moss. Due to the long winters, the growing season was extremely short. Since the tree must open its buds, become active and achieve its entire growth in the four or five month humid period from the beginning of June to the end of September, it has dwarfed shapes suitable for bonsai. Collected and returned to Honshu in mid-September, the Ezo spruce would produce beautiful light green new growth the following spring. The trees were initially planted in sphagnum moss to duplicate what seemed to be the most important growing medium in nature. Because of the new growth, one would think they were fine and sell them. As time passed, however, the trees would lose their vigor and by the end of their third containered year, most died. Katō would return once or twice a year with 400 to 500 small Ezo spruce trees. Thousands of trees are said to have perished this way. It would be years before the masters of bonsai found ways to keep the tree strong and responsive to training. 1
Since the deaths of so many Ezo spruce had been taking a tremendous toll
both financially and emotionally, Tomekichi Katō's colleagues suggested
that he stop dealing in Ezo spruce. (Katō, in the meantime, was
one of the founders of the new Bonsai Village on the edge of the town of
Omiya. Following the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, Tomekichi
allowed many of his neighbors whose homes were destroyed to live
temporarily in Mansei-en. There were approximately 50 people
living there at one time. The bonsai master -- who would attract
many apprentices and be known as a great mentor -- and two friends
began looking for an alternative site and found some land in the little
village of Omiya, northeast of the capital. In 1925 the Katō
family moved there. During the first few years, only three or
four growers moved to Omiya, but by 1935 over twenty bonsai nurserymen
and growers were located there.)
Taken with the beauty of the trees, Tomekichi Katō experimented
continuously to find a method of somehow fertilizing, watering or potting
to prevent the trees
from dying. One day around 1928, he took an Ezo spruce out of its
container while transplanting. He noticed that after taking off the
tattered roots there was rotten sphagnum moss in their midst. The
material that remained looked like the sediment that remains after making
tofu. After carefully removing this he planted the tree in a normal
potting soil. The tree grew healthy. Although the trees grew
naturally in the moss, Katō realized that using sphagnum moss was the
problem.
Tomekichi Katō's eldest son, Saburō (born on May 15, 1915), learned the fundamentals of bonsai from his father. Of the many teachings he received, the most memorable lessons was "to create good bonsai, you have first to build good character in yourself." Saburō learned well. And, despite his frail body, he accompanied the "father of ezo matsu" many times up to Kunashiri Island to collect these trees. 2
The bonsai growers of Omiya wanted to donate an Ezo spruce to the
Imperial Household's bonsai collection. The task of preparing a
suitable tree fell naturally to Tomekichi. After many hours of
work to make it perfect for the great honor, the tree was donated in
1934.
This was but the first of several trees from Omiya which were donated
to that collection and, in the end, the Imperial Agency did actually
purchase that Ezo spruce.
Tomekichi Katō died in 1946 at age 64, and his son Saburō assumed the responsibility of Mansei-en nursery. Extreme hardships were suffered by bonsai nurserymen in war-ravaged Japan when very few patrons could afford to buy bonsai. However, it was the American GI's of the Occupation Forces who came to Omiya to buy black pine and became interested in learning about bonsai that inspired the nurserymen there to persevere and continue their trade. Instead of paying money to Katō, the GI's brought food -- sugar, chocolate, meat and more. Katō was even more happy with those precious supplies than money since money was not as useful in those days. Meanwhile, an adjutant of Gen. MacArthur visited Katō one day and asked him to teach bonsai to the Americans at the bases. This he did for one year. Katō was so happy that bonsai became an object of interest for foreigners, and he was grateful that members of the American occupational forces also adopted the Japanese custom of purchasing potted pine, bamboo and flowering plum arrangements for New Year gifts. He acknowledged the help and kindness he received and to this day credits the successful revitalization of bonsai to post-war bonsai interest by Americans. This interest strengthened the faith of the few remaining growers and they resolved to continue and rebuild the culture. Siubsequently, there was a rebirth of bonsai first in Omiya, and later throughout Japan." (Members of the Occupation Forces were the only people who could afford to purchase his bonsai and Katō would often credit these people with helping to save Mansei-en during the critical first few post-war years. It took 7 to 8 years until the Japanese rekindled their interest in bonsai after the war.) 3
Katō in 1963 had his first work published in Japanese,
Yoseue: Ishizuki bonsai to Ezo Matsu
(
Ezo Spruce, and Forest and Stone-Clasping Bonsai
)
.
This relatively small 142-page illustrated volume provided the most
comprehensive procedures for making bonsai with this species of
tree. He still had several of his father's Ezo spruce
bonsai in his prized rock garden at Mansei-en.
On February 11, 1965 the thirty-one year old private Kokufu Bonsai Association was reorganized into a public corporation, under the auspices of the Japanese Ministry of Education, as the Nippon Bonsai Association. Saburō Katō was one of the founding members and Directors. By the mid-1970s the NBA had about 14,000 members and 132 local branch associations. 4 In 1967 Katō co-authored with Nobukichi Koide and Fusazō Takeyama, as the Directors of the Nippon Bonsai Association, The Masters' Book of Bonsai. (Koide, one of the major leaders in helping the bonsai community recover immediately after WWII, greatly influenced Katō as the latter matured as a bonsai artist and master in his own right.) Katō founded the Nippon Bonsai Kyodo-Kumiai (Japanese Bonsai Union, a professional bonsai growers association) in 1969 and became its first Chief Director. (Also this year, Keiko Yamane opened the Keijukai Bonsai School, specializing in grasses and accent plants. She had studied under Saburō Katō at Mansei-en in Omiya since 1964. She was the first woman to study and train in bonsai for a professional career, owning and operating her own nursery, winning many awards for her work.) 5
In 1970, the Osaka World Exposition was the first such exposition to take
place in Asia. The theme of Expo '70 was "Progress and Harmony of
Mankind." Its special features were the many exhibitions and film
and slide presentations about space technology. Seventy-seven countries
participated and fifty million visitors attended.
In 1973, K. Murata edited
Commemorative Bonsai Exhibit on the Occasion of the 27th Anniversary of the Death of Tomekichi Katō,
a work in Japanese published by Saburō, Terukichi and Hideo.
Three years later, Saburō made the trip abroad to attend the U.S.
Bicentennial as part of the Japanese delegation that made the presentation of
53 dwarf potted trees and viewing stones from the Government of Japan to the
National Bonsai Foundation at the U.S. National Arboretum.
(This was only fitting as he had stepped in earlier and had persuaded
the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the U.S. could care for
the bonsai.)
A
tour group of 52 Hawaii bonsai enthusiasts visited Japan for two weeks
at the start of Nov. 1977. During their visit to Mansei-En they
were given a lecture/demonstration by Saburō assisted by brother Hideo
Katō on concepts of group planting, rock planting, pruning, wiring, and
shaping. While his remarks were translated into English, the
demonstrative graceful gestures of Katō Sensei and his highly visible
love and kinship to the bonsai was readily assimilated by the largely
English-speaking group even without the benefit of translation.
Katō did not ordinarily teach bonsai through the conduct of regular
classes.
Saburō Katō was invited to teach and demonstrate bonsai in Australia and New Zealand in 1978. (During this year and the next, The Masters' Book of Bonsai, now in its third edition, was translated into French, German, and Dutch.) 7
On April 19, 1980, the First World Bonsai Convention was held in Osaka
during the World Bonsai and Suiseki Exhibition, which ran from April 16-May
6 at the Expo '70 Commemoration Park. Representatives from Japan,
Argentina, England, West Germany, India, Italy, China, Korea, Spain, and
the United States attended.
Also this year Katō was appointed to permanent Director of the Nippon Bonsai
Association., as well as consultant to the Japan Bonsai Union.
In 1983 Katō was appointed to be the Executive Director of the Nippon Bonsai
Association. He succeeded his mentor, Nobukichi Koide.
The Masters' Book of Bonsai
saw its first American paperback edition.
This year also saw K. Murata editing the book
Father of Ezo Spruce: Mr. Tomekichi Katō, 100th Anniversary of His Birth.
10
On November 3, 1985 Saburō Katō was awarded the Ranjuhosho decoration,
the Prime Minister's Medal of honor for his exemplary contributions to
the development of culture or international goodwill, the promoting of
bonsai as an art form.
11
For the 30th Anniversary convention of the California Bonsai Society, Inc.
in April 1987, Saburō Katō was the lead demonstrator, representing the
20,000 member NBA.
The following year, his book
The Beauty of Bonsai
was published
with in Japanese with an English summary. An oversized work, this
illustrates many of Katō's masterpiece bonsai and provides detailed
information about Mansei-en and the Katō clan.
The first World Bonsai Convention was held in Omiya,
Japan
--
the center of the world's bonsai art -- between April 6 and 9, 1989.
Its theme was "World Peace Through Bonsai." Almost thirteen hundred
enthusiasts from twenty-eight countries gathered for the event at which
three dozen Japanese masters gave lectures and demonstrations. These
included both Saburō Katō and his brother Hideo.
The formal inaugural meeting of the World Bonsai Friendship Federation (WBFF) was also held now. In planning since 1980 when it was tentatively called the International Bonsai Association, the WBFF was organized as an international non-profit organization to be governed by nine directors -- Saburō Katō was elected executive director -- representing nine world bonsai regional federations. Its purpose is to encourage a deep friendship and mutual understanding through the peaceful shared art of bonsai. (As the result of stress from the convention, Katō spent three days in the hospital -- for the first time in his life.) The Encyclopedia of Bonsai was published this year in Japanese. Shinji Ogasawara had written the article for it about Tomekichi Katō. 12 Ted Tsukiyama's article, "Profile of a Bonsai Internationalist: Saburo Kato," was published in the May/June 1990 issue of BCI's Bonsai magazine. At the BCI convention from July 4-7 in Honolulu, Katō was the headliner with Shinji Ogasawara and John Naka. During the October 1 dedication ceremonies at the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C., Katō presented the deed of the John Y. Naka Pavillion and the deed of the National Collection of North American Bonsai to his longtime friend Naka. The Asia Pacific Bonsai Convention and Exhibition was held in Bali in June of 1991. Organized by the Indonesia Bonsai Society and supported by the Nippon Bonsai Association and the Japan Suiseki Association, the event's principal headliner was Saburō Katō. The 2nd World Bonsai Convention, "New Horizons," was held in Orlando, FL from May 27 to 31 1993 in conjunction with the BCI and ABS conventions. Katō, Naka and Yuji Yoshimura headlined for the seven hundred plus delegates who attended. In 1994 from October 21 to 23, the European Bonsai Association held its annual Congress on the southeast coast of Spain. Assisted by younger brother Hideo, Keiko Yamane, and four family friends from Omiya, Saburō Katō was the principle demonstrator before an auditorium crowd of up to 400 persons from Belgium, Colombia, England, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Monaco, and the US. A tall, impressive forest of Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestrus ) from Spain on a very large slab using a soil-mix from Japan was the masterpiece created. Interpreters were available at all times for English, French, and Spanish translations. Katō enjoys an established reputation as master of the bonsai group planting and the foremost expert on Ezo spruce bonsai. 13 The 3rd Asia-Pacific Bonsai and Suiseki Convention and Exhibition was held in Singapore between May 25 and 29, 1995. The theme was "Friendship Through Bonsai and Suiseki." Talks were given by Saburō Katō of Japan, Sze-Ern "Ernie" Kuo of the U.S., and a half dozen others, each from a different country. 14
On April 23, 1998, seven more bonsai from private collections in Japan
were gifted to the U.S. National Bonsai and Penjing Museum in Washington,
D.C. Saburō Katō made the formal presentation. Also added at
this time was a magnificent
Stewartia monodelphia
forest planting
which Katō had created with 39 trees on an American-made slab at the 1993
World Bonsai Convention. It was purchased by Bonsai Clubs International
and donated to the National Collection.
From 1999 through 2002, Japan Airlines sponsored an annual World Bonsai
Contest. Saburō Katō was chairman of the screening committee. At the 1999 JAL
World Bonsai Fair, Katō-san was given a Gold Medal Award from Rosade
Bonsai Gardens by Mrs. Solita Rosade, President of Bonsai Clubs International. The award is given to the person who has
contributed for promoting Bonsai culture worldwide.
Saburō Katō was a participant and one of the interpreters at the 4th World
Bonsai Convention held in Munich in early June, 2001. He also penned the preface to WBFF's
Bonsai of the World II.
In mid-May 2002, The Katō Stroll Garden was officially dedicated as part of the International Scholarly Symposium on Bonsai and Viewing Stones at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum at Washington, D.C.'s National Arboretum. The garden, most prominently colored by maples and blooming azaleas, honored the five generations of bonsai enthusiasts of the Katō family in Japan who have done so much to promote the art throughout the world. 17
On May 28, 2005, the bonsai world gathered at the John Y. Naka Pavilion of the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum in Washington, D.C. as part of the World Bonsai Friendship Federation's Convention to commemorate John's many contributions to bonsai. An impressive film was shown about Saburō Katō and the late John Y. Naka, paying tribute to these two men for their historic work in founding the WBFF, which is dedicated to promoting peace through bonsai. This opening session concluded with the ceremonial igniting of the Candle of Peace by Saburo Katō. The Convention ended the evening of Tuesday May 31 as Katō-san extinguished the Candle, which was conveyed to Solita Rosade who succeeded Felix Laughlin as Chair of the WBFF. 18 Graham Ross hosted a segment of the Australian Better Homes & Gardens television show with a visit to 91 year-old Saburō Katō in Omiya. The biggest and best collection of dwarfed potted trees in the world was shown, including a 2000 year-old [sic] Shimpaku Juniper. The episode aired June 16, 2006. That November, Mr. Katō held a special exhibition to commemorate his 90th birthday at the Ueno Green Club where he displayed many new bonsai creations. 19 On the morning of February 8, 2008, Saburō Katō died in Omiya. This was the day before the 82nd Kokufu-ten Bonsai Exhibition opened. It is believed that this grandmaster was the only person who had attended every one of the 80 Kokufu-ten (there was no #19) to date. 20
In 1980 Hideo Katō (born 1918), owner of the Yagumo Mansei-en bonsai nursery in Saitama's Bonsai-cho (Omiya Bonsai Village), received the Prime Minister Award at the 5th Sakufu Bonsai Ten, the annual National Professional Bonsai Masters' exhibition. (The first Sakufu-ten was organized in 1975 by Katō at the Daimaru Department Store in Tokyo, where the exhibit has been held ever since.) Two years later he taught in four European countries under the sponsorship of the Japan Foundation. For the World Bonsai Convention in Omiya in 1989 he demonstrated the cascade style. Hideo Katō enjoys great popularity for his precise, accurate shaping technique and for his humorous lectures. Specializing in "creative" bonsai-like group or rock plantings, this standing director of the Japan Bonsai Association is well known for his talent to discover and enhance the natural, individual beauty of the tree. 21
In 1991 the book
Practical Bonsai, Their Care, Cultivation and Training
by Paul Lesniewicz and Hideo Katō was published.
Hideo assisted his brother Saburo at the end of May 1993 at the WBFF Convention in Florida.
In late 2001, Hideo Katō died. His widow Taeko
continues as proprietor of the Yagumo Mansei-en bonsai nursery in
Saitama.
25
Born in 1942 to the master Saburō Katō and his wife,
Hatsuji
Katō shares the responsibility with a brother for running the family bonsai
nursery, Mansei-en. Hatsuji has worked for his father since completing
high school. Although he is a director of the Nippon Bonsai Association
Cooperative, a Vice-Director of the NBA, and is a sought-after teacher
for the JBS, Hatsugi still considers himself a student, everyday studying
new things and describing new techniques. As a fourth-generation
bonsai grower, he is dedicated to furthering the understanding and practice
of bonsai, directing people away from the notion that it is only a rich
person's hobby, or an old person's hobby.
In 1978 he received the award of the Minister of Education for his white
pine, "Kyoko-Yamato."
A joint BCI-ABS convention was held from April 3 to 7, 1985 in New Orleans,
LA with Hatsuji Katō as the guest artist.
Hatsuji Katō won the first prize
at the Safuku Bonsai Ten professional exhibition in 1990. He has
participated annually and won several other awards there.
From May 5 to 9, 1993, the first Russian Bonsai Convention was to be held
at the Moscow Botanic Gardens and was expected to attract visitors from
all over the old Soviet Union. Hatsuji Katō of Japan, Craig Coussins
of Scotland, and Colin Lewis of England were scheduled to be the speakers.
In addition to bonsai programs and exhibit trees, tours of historical note
were planned.
In the mid-1990s he presented a sequential approach to creating Ezo
spruce forest plantings in a 45 minute VHS video tape distributed by
Stone Lantern Publishing Company.
He headlined the Latin American Bonsai Federation (FELAB)'s Second
Latin American Bonsai Encounter in Cali, Columbia in March 1997.
As
Executive Director of the Nippon Bonsai Association, in 2002 he
was a screening committee member for the World Bonsai Contest.
Hatsuji was a special guest for
the California Bonsai Society 45th Anniversary Exhibition and Conference
"Expression of Honor" at the Burbank Airport Hilton in March 2003.
John Naka was the featured headliner.
Hatsuji styled a large twin-trunk Picea abies 'Nidiformis'
(Birds' Nest Spruce) at the Bonsai
Society of Greater Hartford, CT in the spring of 2005. He was also a demonstrator at
that year's MidAtlantic
Bonsai Societies Spring Festival.The other featured artists for this event were David Prescott (UK),
Cheryl Manning (CA), and Andy Smith (ND).
Hatsuji's son,
Haruhiko, works at Mansei-en and has been learning from both his father
and grandfather, to Saburō Katō's great delight. (Haruhiko
was a participant at the 3rd WBFF Convention in Seoul, Korea in Oct. 1997.)
Apprentices
from around the world continue to come to Mansei-en to learn bonsai
techniques from the Katōs.
27
|
