Japanese Bonsai and Bonsai Shows

Japanese Bonsai and Bonsai Shows Ever since those 17th and 18th century visits of Kaempfer and Thunberg - first European naturalists to discover its botanical wonders - Japan has been noted as a source of outstanding native plants for ornamental use in the temperate gardens of the West. Genera like Aucuba and Pittosporzim, Mag- nolia and Euonymus, Acer, Larix, Fatsia, Camellia and Crypto- meria are typical of many which have contributed woody species now well known to western horticulture. Japanese horticultural techniques have not immigrated quite as rapidly as Japanese ornamental plants. But bonsai, the Japanese art of growing tiny trees and other woody plants in miniature, is one that has been booming in our country. It permits anyone with time, pa- tience, a green thumb - and with only a few square yards of space - to have his own arboretum, in miniature. Bonsai as an art has been practiced in Nippon for at least 500 years. In a densely populated land, where living and garden space is very limited, the creation of miniature trees or tiny living landscapes for appreciation in the home makes good sense. Airy houses without central heating in a land of high humidity make for a good environment in which to display potted plants like bonsai which often have special attractions to the homeowner. Being compact a number of bonsai specimens can be maintained in minimal area. Thus, a mature though diminutive tree can be moved easily in and out of the house as desired - important where space is a premium - and where the custom is to focus attention and enjoyment to one art object at a time. Fine Japanese pottery and chinaware - as beloved as the plants themselves - are usually combined with choice bonsai specimens to yield outstanding conversation pieces. Depending upon the ability of the grower, one can bring into his house what appears to be a mature forest tree, a fragment of natural woodland, a clump of bamboo, a pine-clad islet, or a contorted windshorn conifer from some remote mountain top - all in miniature. In short, the art of bonsai permits the average Japanese to enjoy in his own home a tiny living replica of the natural landscape that he loves so well. 241 Chamaecyparis obtusa (a representative conifer in unusual bonsai form). Fagus crenata (to illustrate a group of trees as a bonsai subject). Azalea (an unusual bonsai subject, at least to westerners; specimen illustrated was "blue ribbon" recipient as best bonsai in annual azalea show at Ku- rume in Kyushu in 1967). Right: Cycas revoluta (an unusual and rather rare bonsai subject). All photos: W. H. Hodge. Pinus parviflora (to show a favorite bonsai presentation of a rocky islet with dominating pine and related herbs growing on rochs and set in a low container with sand and water to represent the sea). Photo: W. H. Hodge. Wherever one travels in Japan, collections of bonsai are to be seen - on the racks beside windows or atop the roof of tiny city homes to the more spacious yards of the picturesque thatched farmhouses of Nippon’s countryside. Anyone can be a bonsai owner from factory worker to a member of the Im- perial Family. As likely as not, when the Japanese Emperor or Crown Prince speaks at a formal official ceremony he will stand in front of a golden folding screen along with one of his choice fine bonsai. Nurseries exist solely for bonsai production, and florists, garden shops, and even the big city department I 245 stores, regularly offer either specimen plants in attractive con- tainers or plants simply "balled and burlapped" - in miniature, to be trained in "do it yourself" fashion. Even the stalls of itin- erant peddlers who assemble at the innumerable shrine or temple festivals regularly feature examples of bonsai art - the plant subject being offered usually matching the season or the special holiday involved. Japan’s bonsai "aficionados", like most other collectors of specialized horticultural material, have their own unique societies. These are found all over the island nation. Like horticultural societies everywhere they foster annual exhibitions at a season appropriate for the material. Late winter or early spring is popular for most shows that display general bonsai material, but shows for specialty bonsai material must suit the season. Thus the city of Kurume in Kyushu - original source of many of the cultivars of our familiar "Kurume" azaleas, features a bonsai show devoted to these colorful plants in April; whereas chrysanthemum trained in bonsai form are featured of course in the autumn at the unique "mum" shows to be seen in many parts of Japan, principally in shrine gardens. A visit to a more typical bonsai show gives one not only a glimpse of the wide variety of Japan’s bonsai art but enables one to view some of the best existent specimens. Unlike an American horticultural show, a Nipponese bonsai display is simplicity itself. Show specimens are simply lined up in long rows against plain white background walls enabling the visitor to appreciate the full beauty of form and container without distraction. Low partitions separate each individual display, which often consists of two features - the major bonsai specimen plus a lesser container, the latter a dish garden of sorts for accent often featuring plants like dwarfed Sasa veitchii, creeping polypody ferns, prostrate ericads like Vaccinium vitis- idaea, or - if it’s wintertime the New Year flower favorite, Adonis amurensis, which is commonly forced for bloom in this season. Displays are labelled simply with the common name of plant material and identification of the owner. In Japan there is no real season for bonsai. Evergreen specimens, both needle-leaved and broad-leaved types, may be enjoyed the year around. On the other hand, the form and architecture of deciduous trees is often best appreciated in the leafless condition, and since those species with showy flow- ers are at their prime in early spring, this gives the rationale for many Japanese bonsai societies to schedule vernal shows. 246 Three major kinds of bonsai art are represented in such general shows - single tree specimens, groups of trees planted to simulate woodland or copse, and lastly a complete landscape. In the latter case the favorite bonsai landscape is a representa- tion of the microcosm of plants to be found on a typical coastal islet such as can be seen in the bay at Matsushima, one of the three famous "views" of Japan. The most common bonsai grown is the single specimen tree. Individuals may exhibit a wide variety of shape. Most obvious is the tree trained to be as exact a replica as possible of the ideal form and habit of the species found in nature. However, conifer bonsai often have branches and needle clusters clipped to give the ordered sort of beauty beloved by the Japanese and typical of full-sized specimens grown in manicured style in the landscape and shrine gardens of the country. Of conifers trained as bonsai, "Goyo-matsu", Pinus parviflora, a familiar 5-needle pine of Japan’s mountains, is most popular. The habit of this species lends itself well to bonsai art so it outnumbers all others in most Japanese shows. Not as frequent but often seen is "Kuro-matsu", Pinus thunbergii, the native black pine which produces the characteristic look to Japan’s rocky seacoasts. Other favorite conifers trained as bonsai include "Hinoki" (Chamaecyparis obtusa), "Ezo-matsu" (Picea yezoensis) and mountain juniper, "Nezu" (Juniperus rigida) - with popularity about in that order. It is with cer- toin nF thic rnni~ornmc o ;nll~r "T~;"l.lr;" th..E T".. _.___ .._ -___.. _._____.._...... __.»...~.mnfn,~i_nl , ..°L°C.....~ _.~...~... , "..‘." ,,‘ anese bonsai artists are able to create those bizarre specimens which bring to the viewer a strong feeling of the continual bat- tle for existence that certain conifers must make when growing in the inhospitable environment that exists at montane timberlines. Some of these seemingly wind and snow battered bonsai feature essentially a bleached and twisted woody core with only a fragment of living foliage. One wonders how the green crown can possibly be maintained with only a tiny um- bilical cord of living bark snaking its way up the surface of the bare and dead heartwood to connect the leaves with the roots below, As might be expected, varieties of Japanese cherries - the national flower, and the winter-flowering plum ("ume"), - one of the "three friends of winter", are the favored subjects for bonsai among flowering trees. Also commonly seen at shows as flowering bonsai are such plants as winter jasmine, native pieris, camellias, flowering quince and Cornelian cherry. Speci- . Miniature bonsai (a typical stand of "super-dwarf" bonsai showing , a variety of subjects including pine, zelkova, cherry, flowering quince, firethorn, etc.). Photo: W. H. Hodge. 247 mens still colorful with fruits from the preceding fall are often represented by cultivars of ilex and firethorn. Of native deciduous trees exhibited three kinds - "Momiji" (Acer spp.), "buna" (Fagus crenata) and "Keyaki" (Zelhova serrata), are the obvious favorites. This is understandable, for in leafless silhouette choice bonsai of these species, though pygmy-sized, look just like full- grown trees transplanted from a Nipponese woodland. This impression is somewhat lost, it seems to this writer, after the leaves appear, for in size the latter are not quite in proportion to the over-all stature of the dwarfed plant. Some bonsai are even said to reflect the personality of their owners. Featured in a Tokyo show in 1968 was a bonsai from the collection of the late postwar statesman, Shigeru Yoshida.

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