Ancient art on display in private, picturesque Japanese gardens

By Grant Okubo, Stars and Stripes Scene, Sunday, April 25, 2010

For some, Mr. Miyagi and the Karate Kid movies were their introduction to the world of bonsai — the art of growing miniature trees.

There are even a few websites talking about how "Mr. Miyagi" introduced them to bonsai.

But the ancient Japanese art of bonsai has grown past the pop culture references and found its way into gardens around the world.

Originally developed in China 2,000 years ago, bonsai was adopted (and some say perfected) by the Japanese in the 12th century. Growing bonsai requires a specific process of pruning, root reduction and potting to ensure the desired effect.

"There is (a growing) interest in bonsai" outside Japan, said Yoshihiro Nakamizu, president of the Bonsai Network near Tokyo, which connects visitors to Japan with some of the country’s most spectacular bonsai gardens.

Most of his clients come to Japan from Europe, North American and South America specifically for the bonsai tour, he said.

Japan has the best bonsai in the world, said Pedro Morales, president of the Puerto Rico Bonsai Federation, who along with other bonsai enthusiasts from Puerto Rico, Mexico, Columbia and Venezuela spent a recent Sunday touring gardens with Nakamizu.

"If we want to learn the correct way, we have to come to the best," Morales said.

Their first stop was to the bonsai village in Saitama City, just outside Tokyo. Located near Omiya Station, it is made up of several privately owned bonsai gardens in the residential neighborhood Bonsai-cho.

"The serenity, simplicity and peace that you get when you visit the gardens is a very unique feeling," Morales said. He added that both amateur and professionals interested in bonsai definitely have to see the gardens for themselves.

Meeting the bonsai artists is among the highlights of such trips, said Morales, who has made his fifth trip to Japan with bonsai always topping the agenda.

"This place is full of history and to see all the great collections there and to learn where each of the masters came from is a very special feeling. Every (bonsai) master that we spoke with is willing to share their knowledge. The most important thing is that they appreciate that outsiders are learning (this) Japanese art form."

While Japan is a bonsai lover’s paradise, Morales and others have exported the art to their native countries, Morales said.

Though trees and climates vary, the technique remains the same, he said.

The tour also included a stop at the private garden of Masahiko Kimura in Saitama City. Kimura is considered the best of the best in the bonsai world, Nakamizu said.

"Kimura is the Picasso of the bonsai world," Nakamizu said. "You’ll see how his trees are different from the others. He takes the material and makes them into an art form."

The tour ended at bonsai master Kunio Kobayashi’s Shunkaen Bonsai Museum in Tokyo. During the visit, many of the bonsai fans had the opportunity to speak with bonsai practitioners such as Peter Warren, Kobayashi’s apprentice. The native of Yorkshire, England, has studied under Kobayashi for seven years.

"What I’ve learned from bonsai in terms of technique has only been a small part compared to what I’ve gained from this experience on a personal level," Warren said. "Bonsai can be incredibly beautiful, and it makes people happy."

For more information on attending a tour of the various bonsai gardens, visit www.j-bonsai.com

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=140&article=69568

Botanical Garden offers Asian experience with new presentation

The Cleveland Botanical Garden celebrates the tranquil beauty of a Japanese garden -- effusive with spirituality as well as flowers -- when it presents ''Zensai: The Horticulture of Japan'' through June 29.

The word ''Zensai'' means ''entry garden,'' but this spring show is much more. Visitors may take in the Cleveland garden's permanent Japanese Garden, which has been around since 1975, as a result of the work of members of Ikebana International, Cleveland Chapter 20.

Ikebana and Bonsai

There will be displays of arrangements at the Gardens in two classic styles: Ikebana and Bonsai. The centuries-old Ikebana is the ancient Japanese art of flower arranging that strives to convey the majesty and beauty of nature as well as its appeal to our spiritual yearnings. There is no one ''right'' school of Ikebana but all share some things in common. This style expresses the ideal of living in harmony with nature, a love of flowers and plants and a desire to want to arrange natural elements to show off their beauty.

Unlike the flower arrangements we see in Western shops, Ikebana relies on an asymmetrical composition that incorporates empty spaces (and the imagination's eye) as part of the form.

The leading schools of Ikebana (and in Japan) are Ikenobo -- the oldest, more than 500 years old -- and the most formal, Ohara, which values creativity and communion with nature.

The third, Sogetsu, sort of the new kid on the block at only 81 years old, values the individual arranger's view and celebrates a ''free-style'' view of the art.

Bonsai is an art more familiar to Ohioans who can find the tiny trees in florist shops and at trade fairs and flea markets. The art of Bonsai, brought over from China, is also ancient; in fact it came to Japan in the Ninth Century.

The art of Bonsai depends of shaping and pruning of trees and plants over many years to miniaturize them. Almost any tree can be turned into a Bonsai tree, but they are very high maintenance and can require regular fertilizing and watering several times per day.

Guided tours daily

For those who would like to learn more than just walking around can tell them, there will be 1 p.m. daily tours of the Garden during the Zensai show as well as 6 p.m. tours on Wednesday.

''At their core, Japanese gardens are the artistic expression of a culture,'' noted a garden spokesman. ''They're places where less is more, and in many respects, the missing element is often the most powerful. Through the subtle use of plants and hard features, the visitor is transported to a place that at first glance appears exotic, but in fact is closer to home than we think.

''The Cleveland Japanese garden was designed by David Slawson, whose work can be found throughout the United States. The garden has elements of three styles: the dry landscape style; the tea garden style and the stroll garden style.

Additional treats include ''The Japanese Garden: Photographs by Haruzo Ohashi.'' More than 100 photographs of beautiful gardens, waterfalls and walkways as rendered by Ohashi, a top Japanese garden photographer who spent 40 years taking pictures in historic gardens.

In this exhibition, Ohashi has arranged the six fundamental styles of Japanese gardens to coincide with Japanese history and the social changes it necessitated.

Those six styles are: the pleasure boat, the stroll, contemplation, many pleasures, the tea and courtyard styles.Subjects that might seem tame now, such as tea drinking, were radical and new when they first became popular.

The military actually popularized Zen Buddhism, a fact which seems odd to generations who think the notion of ''zen'' was to be cool and laid back.

His photos also show how the urban middle class changed the traditional pattern of gardening.

Ohashi's works are famous for using intricate photo techniques to achieve the greatest depth of field for his garden photographs.

The Botanical Gardens show will also exhibit fine art from the Verne Collection. Mitzie Verne, a Cleveland collector who once lived next door in Japan to the Emperor Hirohito's summer palace, has collected many works of art from Japan.

Among the items from the collection are Keisuke Serizawa prints. Serizawa has been declared a ''National Art Treasure'' by the Japanese government and his work has been exhibited in the Louvre, the Chicago Art Institute and the Museum of Fine Arts.
©The Morning Journal 2008

http://www.morningjournal.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19679425&BRD=1699&PAG=461&dept_id=46371&rfi=6

Bonsai Trees - Stunning Examples

Bonsai Trees - Stunning Examples

Art of Bonsai

The bonsai is a perfect combination of art and science. It is a product of human ingenuity, practicality and creativity. As such, it is only natural for people to get captivated and mesmerized by these little bundles of joy... even after 200 years. If you're one of the bonsai plants fans, then you better read on to understand the principles of art which lies underneath its cute and colorful façade.

The art of bonsai growing originated and flourished in China about two hundred years ago. At first, this planting technique was merely done in order to make transportation of medical plants easier. However, the beauty and challenge the bonsai trees exuded captured the heart of many. It then began to reach another level of popularity. With this social evolution, the art claimed its title as one of the most popular and everlasting arts when it comes to plants.

As an art, there are certain schools of thoughts that the bonsai plant adheres to. The Japanese school of thought uses the bonsai as an expression of awe to the heavens and the earth. As such, you can often find these kinds of bonsai teeming with rich flowers and trees such as the juniper, flowering cherry, apricot and others. As a Japanese art, the main theme of the bonsai is "heaven and earth in a pot".

Its existence as a Chinese art is equally as meaningful. According to the Chinese school of thought, a bonsai plant is a statement that embodies the yin and the yang. This positive- negative kind of thought was formed due to Taoist philosophies most of the Chinese people believe in. Some of their common subjects are the maple and the Acacia. What set's apart Chinese bonsai is its supreme creativity, spanning from both plant shapes and size to the color and definition found on the pots they use.

Even with the existence of these two, you are still free to create bonsais just the way you want them. All that you need to be sure of is that you express yourself completely, and succeed in limiting the plants growth. You can merge both influences or simply be yourself as you grow the perfect combination of bonsai plants into little gardens of delight and joy.

The flourishing art of the bonsai has now conquered the whole world. From its humble beginnings in China and Japan, it has now become a statement of human power and creativity all over the world.

Try using the bonsai as a tool of expression ad art too. Who knows? You might just like it! Just read on a bonsai guidebook for a moment or two. After acquiring necessary knowledge, you will be able to express yourself through this amazing planting technique.
About the Author

Owner of http://www.mishobonsai.com , he been practicing bonsai for a decade. Found an interest in seeds. Mishobonsai.com sells tree seed and provides bonsai supplies.