Are you joining the National Bonsai Foundation at the U.S. National Arboretum for World Bonsai Day 2022?! Check out our agenda for the day, and in the meantime, freshen up on the history of this global celebration:
The concept of World Bonsai Day sprung from the thoughtful mind of Saburo Kato, a world-renowned bonsai artist – and philosopher of sorts.
Born May 15, 1915, in Japan, Kato spent much of his life working on Ezo spruces, so much so that he published a book called “Forest, Rock Planting and Ezo Spruce Bonsai.” He helped to establish numerous bonsai groups, like the Nippon Bonsai Association and the Japanese Bonsai Union.
Kato had a big hand in Japan’s bicentennial gift of 53 bonsai and six viewing stones to the United States in 1976, which were the start of the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum collection. A few years later, he gave a speech at the International World Bonsai Convention that underscored the idea that you can become closer with the beauty and fragility of the natural world by practicing bonsai.
This philosophy is known as “bonsai no kokoro,” or “the spirit of bonsai,” and Kato touched on it in many speeches after that initial convention. In 1989, he co-founded with John Naka and Ted Tsukiyama the World Bonsai Friendship Federation (WBFF), which exists to bring peace and camaraderie to the world through this art form.
After Kato passed in 2008, WBFF established World Bonsai Day to pay homage to Kato and his efforts to promote international peace and friendship through bonsai. The first event was held in 2010, and the day is now celebrated on the second Saturday of May each year, to coincide with Kato’s birthdate.
Arboretum Director Dr. Richard Olsen said he hopes that visitors on World Bonsai Day can rekindle and forge new personal connections to trees, their value and the need for preservation and conserving the world’s flora after these last few years of online celebrations.
“Bonsai are living works of art meant to be enjoyed in person, not in two dimensions on screens or pages,” Olsen said. “The connections between visitors and the bonsai specimens – expressions of astonishment and awe – remind us of the importance of curating and showcasing this art form. World Bonsai Day is the ultimate annual event in celebrating an art form that transcends cultures and boundaries.”
NBF Board Chair Dr. Richard Kahn, PhD, said World Bonsai day calls attention to an art form that is not often understood or appreciated and that visiting the Museum or pursuing more information online can convey more about the living sculptures known as bonsai.
“Bonsai and penjing enriches many lives, not just those who nurture these beautiful objects,” he said. “We hope you, too, will now take the opportunity to enjoy them as so many do.”
NBF Board Chair Emeritus Jim Hughes said that, no matter where or how you’re celebrating, World Bonsai Day is a celebration of your community and all its nurturing aspects.
“Although the online, digital connection on World Bonsai Days of the past two years had its pluses, being together face-to-face (or face-to-tree) this year has many more tangible benefits,” he said. “Come to the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum to observe and see first-hand this living art form in person this year!”
MaryEllen Carsley, an artist hosting classes for the WBD celebration at the Arboretum, said she is excited to take part in the day’s festivities after growing up visiting the Museum. She hopes class participants adopt a deeper appreciation of the artistry and beauty of bonsai and the sense of mindfulness, peace and renewal that accompanies the act of drawing an emotionally moving object or scene.
“It seems especially important and meaningful in these times, too, that this is a global celebration of peace, friendship, and beauty,” she said. “Whether a person is new to bonsai, drawing, or both, I hope picking up the pencil and sharing an hour together drawing among the beautiful trees inspires them to make more art in any form!”
MaryEllen added that the final drawing (or any artistic product) is not as important as engaging and reflecting on the beauty of life that is present in the day’s medium: for Saturday, that’s the bonsai.
“Saburo Kato spoke about how, through bonsai, you can learn to appreciate the beauty of nature,” she said. “Drawing is like that: it makes you engage with and reflect on life and nature's never-ending cycle.
MaryEllen said she is looking forward to sharing the joy of drawing bonsai with those present and remembering all those around the world who will be appreciating the spirit of friendship.
Museum Curator Michael James said he is looking forward to seeing crowds strolling through the Museum to admire the bonsai and garden collections once again. He said the Museum has been a place of inspiration for the bonsai community and nature enthusiasts alike, especially on international celebratory days like World Bonsai Day.
“It is uplifting to see the amazement in people of all ages,” Michael said. “To celebrate World Bonsai Day again in person after two years is exactly what the doctor ordered.”
Stop by the Museum on Saturday, May 14, for docent-led personal tours, crafts, bonsai demonstrations and more!