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Japanese Art Bonsai Article
This is a selection made from among articles on Japanese Art Bonsai. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for future reading, click here.
John Naka the Legendary Bonsai Master
from: Lawn and Garden MagicJohn Yoshio Naka was born on August 16, 1914 in Denver, Colorado. He returned to his native Japan, along with his family, at the age of eight. Since he now had his grandfather as a constant companion, he observed as his elder shaping and trimming trees.
When he was nineteen, John decided to become a landscape designer and so learned the fundamentals regarding the relationships of nature -- trees, space and stone. Upon completion of his education, he continued with additional studies when he attended a prestigious art school in Japan.
Due to the building war in Japan in 1935, his father feared that John might be deployed into the army and so John returned to Colorado to live with Sadao, his brother where he marrued Alice Toshito Mizunaga in 1936. They had three sons: Eugene, Robert and Richard.
John moved his family to Los Angeles in 1946 where he worked as a landscaper, specializing in Japanese gardens. Here, he because friend with Sam Doi, who encouraged John to read and study books about bonsai techniques.
This resulted in his first work, the Montezuma Cypress, a 36 inch tall, five gallon plant grown in Southern California. Years later, this plant continued to grow at the exact height and also twice produced small cones.
John Naka was starting to get noticed as a bonsai artist and, along with his friends, Fumiko Nagata, Ai Okumura, Joseph Yamashiro and Morihei Furuya, Naka started the Southern California Bonsai Club.
Rising from being a local teacher, Naka went on to become a national teacher in the art of bonsai, attending symposiums as gust speaker throughout the 1970s. His works were published in newspaper articles and on the "Bonsai Journal" where he illustrated, step-by-step, the transformation of a juniper grown in a nursery, to the center of a bonsai garden.
John Naka finally conquered the global scene by visiting many countries and helping to educate bonsai enthusiasts about his art. His collections of bonsai art has been viewed numerous times and published in many books as well.
John Naka once said he regarded his works as his grandchildren, which is why his interest and passion about bonsai is available for all to see.
The National Bonsai Foundation, a non-profit corporation, elected Naka as one of the honorary advisers to the foundation. Throughout the years, Naka has also become legendary in the sense that he's had buildings named after him. In fact, a workshop room is named after him because he's regarded as the "Father of Popular Bonsai."
Japanese Art Bonsai News
Garden Calendar - Seattle Post Intelligencer
Garden Calendar Seattle Post Intelligencer - ONGOINGWeyerhaeuser's Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection: Guided Tour, Sundays at noon. Learn the history of the collection and the horticultural and artist ... |
Entertainment Calendar (1/9) - Ahwatukee Foothills News
Entertainment Calendar (1/9) Ahwatukee Foothills News, AZ - Odyssey: The Photographs of Linda Connor: through March 8, Phoenix Art Museum, 1625 N. Central Ave. This comprehensive exhibition represents 30 years of ... |
What’s goes on - Port Orchard Independent
What’s goes on Port Orchard Independent, WA - John Conn of the Evergreen Bonsai Club will be speaking on the history, cultivation and care of bonsai. Info: Call (360) 697-1172 or (360) 779-5030. ... |
Tom Dodge | DISPATCH - Columbus Dispatch
 Columbus Dispatch | Tom Dodge | DISPATCH Columbus Dispatch, OH - Bonsai (pronounced bone-sigh) is the ancient art of discovering and honoring nature by rendering it in miniature. In Japanese, bonsai means "a plant in a ... |
Lord of the Jungle, and the Chain Saw - New York Times
Lord of the Jungle, and the Chain Saw New York Times, United States - Plant some bonsai and bamboo, add a bridge. Attractive woods, in other words. For people with an army of gardeners, an endless stream of disposable income ... |
Gardening Calendar: Bulb sales, Christmas tree recycling - Dallas Morning News
Gardening Calendar: Bulb sales, Christmas tree recycling Dallas Morning News, TX - JAPANESE POT GARDENING: The Bonsai Society of Dallas will present a program on Kusomono, which is the Japanese art of small tray planting used as ... |