What Happened On This Date in "Recent" Bonsai History?
APRIL
| 1 | 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.
[He would continue in that position until his retirement in 1996.] (Biography,
http://www.bonsai-nbf.org/nbpm/drechslerbio.htm)
1978 -- The Penjing Garden at the Shanghai Botanic Garden opened to the public on 4 hectares. "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, Mar 27, Mar 31, Apr 6, Apr 18, Jul 20, Aug 20, Sep 22, Oct 4, Dec 9. |
| 4 | 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 Journal, 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)
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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| 6 | 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, Mar 27, Mar 31, Apr 3, Apr 18, Jul 20, Aug 20, Sep 22, Oct 4, Dec 9. |
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| 9 | 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.) |
| 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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| 13 | 1937 -- Larz Anderson died. [Shortly after this, 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.]
(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 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.) |
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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 on carved wooden stands, was issued by the People's Republic of China (Mainland China). SEE ALSO: Jan 29, Feb 3, Mar 27, Mar 31, Apr 3, Apr 6, Jul 20, Aug 20, Sep 22, Oct 4, Dec 9. |
| 19 | 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, Saburo Kato 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 |
| 20 | 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) |
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| 22 | 1986 -- The 1st Exhibition of the Korea 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) |
| 23 | 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, 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) |
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| 25 | 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 |
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