Akemi's Blog

What can we learn from Bonsai's popularity worldwide?

I started this blog for the purpose of promoting Japan's traditional arts and crafts, because many of them are at the verge of extinction. "The only way for them to survive is to raise awareness and create demand among people living outside of Japan," so I thought.

Well, the more I research about Bonsai abroad, how active the Bonsai enthusiasts' community is, I see less importance of my further introducing Bonsai here.

On the other hand, I think there are a lot to learn from this emerging popularity of Bonsai in the US and in Europe. I will independently continue exploring what made Bonsai so popular among people outside of Japan.

The 8th world Bonsai Convention will be held in Saitama next year, from April 27 to 30. Not only Bonsai enthusiasts, but maybe I should attend to learn about the secret of this popularity.....

 

Envisioning a renaissance for American bonsai culture

Just as Oscar Yonker, the founder of Bonsai Empire, was fascinated by bonsai when he was 15 years old, Ryan Neil was only 14 years old when his spirit was captured by bonsai.

Determined to become a bonsai professional, Ryan apprenticed under the bonsai master Masahiko Kimura for 6 years in Japan, and now has a studio called Mirai in Oregon. Earlier this year Ryan had a bonsai show at Portland Japanese Garden.

In his website, he says "I envision a renaissance for American bonsai culture.". As you can see the video below, his work is just wonderful.

Both Oscar and Ryan fascinate me. I don't think bonsai is popular at all among young people in Japan. What do people like Oscar and Ryan see in bonsai that very few Japanese counterparts see?

 

What is and is not Bonsai （盆栽）?

 

When I was little, my parents used to have close to 100 bonsai plants, almost all of them were azaleas. I thought Bonsai was a hobby among old people, and never paid attention to what my parents were doing.  

So when I started to do some research about Bonsai on the web, I was surprised to encounter two young men who are so passionate about Bonsai.

First, let me introduce to you a website called Bonsai Empire. According to its About page, this website was created by Oscar in 2000 when he was 15 years old. The website became so popular that now it is translated into 12 other languages!

In a movie that he created, Oscar describes what is and what is not Bonsai.

"Bonsai is a combination of techniques in order to grow styled tree with a goal to miniaturize it.... Bonsai is Not a genetically dwarf plant, nor a tree species. In fact, any tree species can be used to grow bonsai plant."

"Bonsai （盆栽）literally means a plant in a shallow container in Japanese."

"The ultimate goal of a bonsai is to create a realistic depiction of nature. The smaller the tree gets, the more abstract the image becomes."

Thank you, Oscar, for your clear description of Bonsai.

Here is his video. Enjoy!

What makes it bonsai?

Also present at Japan Fair was Puget Sound Bonsai Association. I had a chance to chat with Edd Kuehn, the president of the organization. What exactly makes it bonsai?

"Bonsai is a horticultural art that takes many forms to create living, sculpted representations of trees in miniature form. Bonsai is an ancient art developed probably first in China nearly two thousand years ago, then later in Japan over a thousand years ago, and now is practiced throughout the world." says the brochure that Edd handed to me. At the booth he showed me the mini bonsais that he grew... or can I say that he created?  

According to Edd, bonsai became quite popular in the US in the 20th century. But how? Well, I think it's worth doing some research... 

Edd Kuehn, president of Puget Sound Bonsai Association, and his colleague

 

They are all Edd's mini bonsai trees.

 

Mountain Hemloc
Tsuga mertensiana
Collected from the wild in 2002
Approx. 65-70 years old

 

Ponderosa Pine
Pinus ponderosa
yamadori (gathered from the wild)
Approx. 75 years old

Ikenobo? Sogetsu? Here is the answer!

Here is the answer to yesterday's quiz!

Ikenobo's traditional style is distinct in its shape of branches and a container.   Sogetsu School tends to have much modern styles.  And this variety in styles is which makes Ikebana all the more interesting!

1. Sogetsu

 

2. Ikenobo

 

3. Sogetsu

 

4. Ikenobo

 

 

  

 

Ikenobo? Sogetstu? Can you guess right?

The Japan Fair was held today in Seattle, and Ikebana International Seattle Chapter #19 displayed several flower arrangements.

Of those arrangements below, some are Ikenobo School and others are Sogetsu School arrangements.  Can you guess which is which?  

1.

 

2.

 

3.

 

4.

Explore Teaism with your favorite drink, now!

From August 10 till yesterday I introduced Kakuzo Okakura's "The Book of Tea" in my blog. After over hundred years since it was written, his words still clearly depict what Teaism (as he calls it) is and its relation to Taoism and Zen.

Enough for reading what it is. Why don't you explore Teaism yourself right now, in your own living space?

First, tidy your surroundings. Remember how spick and span the tea masters cleaned the tea room? By creating a clean, tidy space, your mind also finds a calm space.

Next, pick your favorite drink; tea, coffee, or hot chocolate (I would suggest avoiding any alcoholic beverages). It doesn't have to be matcha.

Put out all the necessary utensils to make your favorite drink in front of you; your favorite cup, a spoon to scoop your drink, a kettle to heat up water, and whatever else you need to make it. Once you laid them out, clean each item by hand, and dry each item with a clean kitchen towel, One by one.

When you clean each utensil, think about whomever or whatever was involved in making each item. As for your cup, if it's ceramic, think of a person (or a machine) that shaped the clay, put it into the kiln, packaged it in a box or a bag, until you finally possessed it.

When you make your drink, think of whomever and whatever was involved in growing the leaves (if it's tea) or the beans (if it's coffee or cocoa). Don't forget to think of those who worked on bringing you the clear water!

And before you have the first sip, why don't you show your upmost respect to all those people and things that made this drink possible? That's the entrance to the Teaism. Congratulations!

 

Tea room-- a true sanctuary

Over a hundred years ago Kakuzo Okakura already pointed out the importance of having a tea room as his/her sanctuary.  In this digital age, do we not need the tea room more than ever?

In the tea-room the fear of repetition is a constant presence. The various objects for the decoration of a room should be so selected that no color or design shall be repeated. If you have a living flower, a painting of flowers is not allowable. If you are using a round kettle, the water pitcher should be angular. A cup with a black glaze should not be associated with a tea-caddy of black lacquer. In placing a vase of an incense burner on the tokonoma, care should be taken not to put it in the exact centre, lest it divide the space into equal halves. The pillar of the tokonoma should be of a different kind of wood from the other pillars, in order to break any suggestion of monotony in the room.

...

The simplicity of the tea-room and its freedom from vulgarity make it truly a sanctuary from the vexations of the outer world. There and there alone one can consecrate himself to undisturbed adoration of the beautiful. In the sixteenth century the tea-room afforded a welcome respite from labor to the fierce warriors and statesmen engaged in the unification and reconstruction of Japan. In the seventeenth century, after the strict formalism of the Tokugawa rule had been developed, it offered the only opportunity possible for the free communion of artistic spirits. Before a great work of art there was no distinction between daimyo, samurai, and commoner.

Nowadays industrialism is making true refinement more and more difficult all the world over. Do we not need the tea-room more than ever?

(The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura)

 

Japanese tearoom in Uji

Asymmetry--another concept of a tea room

The "Abode of the Unsymmetrical" suggests another phase of our decorative scheme. The absence of symmetry in Japanese art objects has been often commented on by Western critics. This, also, is a result of a working out through Zennism of Taoist ideals. Confucianism, with its deep-seated idea of dualism, and Northern Buddhism with its worship of a trinity, were in no way opposed to the expression of symmetry. As a matter of fact, if we study the ancient bronzes of China or the religious arts of the Tang dynasty and the Nara period, we shall recognize a constant striving after symmetry. The decoration of our classical interiors was decidedly regular in its arrangement.

The Taoist and Zen conception of perfection, however, was different. The dynamic nature of their philosophy laid more stress upon the process through which perfection was sought than upon perfection itself. True beauty could be discovered only by one who mentally completed the incomplete. The virility of life and art lay in its possibilities for growth. In the tea-room it is left for each guest in imagination to complete the total effect in relation to himself. Since Zennism has become the prevailing mode of thought, the art of the extreme Orient has purposefully avoided the symmetrical as expressing not only completion, but repetition.

Uniformity of design was considered fatal to the freshness of imagination. Thus, landscapes, birds, and flowers became the favorite subjects for depiction rather than the human figure, the latter being present in the person of the beholder himself. We are often too much in evidence as it is, and in spite of our vanity even self-regard is apt to become monotonous.

(The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura)

 

Impermanence of a tea room

Over a hundred years ago, Kakuzo Okakura must have observed a huge contrast between the elaborate decoration of the Western rooms and the simplicity of Japan's tea room.  Below is the depiction in his own words.

The term, Abode of Vacancy, besides conveying the Taoist theory of the all-containing, involves the conception of a continued need of change in decorative motives. The tea-room is absolutely empty, except for what may be placed there temporarily to satisfy some aesthetic mood. Some special art object is brought in for the occasion, and everything else is selected and arranged to enhance the beauty of the principal theme. One cannot listen to different pieces of music at the same time, a real comprehension of the beautiful being possible only through concentration upon some central motive. Thus it will be seen that the system of decoration in our tea-rooms is opposed to that which obtains in the West, where the interior of a house is often converted into a museum.

To a Japanese, accustomed to simplicity of ornamentation and frequent change of decorative method, a Western interior permanently filled with a vast array of pictures, statuary, and bric-a-brac gives the impression of mere vulgar display of riches. It calls for a mighty wealth of appreciation to enjoy the constant sight of even a masterpiece, and limitless indeed must be the capacity for artistic feeling in those who can exist day after day in the midst of such confusion of color and form as is to be often seen in the homes of Europe and America.

(The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura)