Over 50 years, bonsai clubs in Southern California growing
Cultural News, June 2006
California Live Oak bonsai by Mas Moriguchi, 90 years old, member of the Marina Bonsai Club. The accent plants (soe) was prepared by Frank Goya, veteran bonsai enthusiast. This Tokonoma display was a part of the Annual California Bonsai Society Exhibition at Huntington Library in San Marino near Pasadena in March 2006. (Cultural News Photo)
By Ray Yeager
In 1915, the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco was held to commemorate the completion of the Panama Canal. Another event took place during this celebration of progress that would eventually change the lives of many people.
Japan, as a part of their participation, displayed bonsai for the first time in the United States. It would be many years later, however, after the World War II, before the general public would have the opportunity to fully embrace this unique union of art and nature.
Bonsai clubs are an important core of a bonsai community. Clubs are where anyone with the desire can learn the basic elements of bonsai. Clubs also have the responsibility for educating the public by staging exhibitions and offering demonstrations and instruction.
Fifty years ago there was only one bonsai club in Southern California. Now, approximately eighteen are currently active.
The Southern California Bonsai Club was founded in November 1950, by John Naka, Frank Nagata, Morihei Furuya, Ai Okumura, and Joe Yamashiro, all students of Sam Doi. Before the club had a name, they decided to show a few of their bonsai at the annual San Gabriel Valley Fall Flower and Garden Show at Brookside Park in Pasadena. One of the entry requirements was that they had to be sponsored by a club so Frank Nagata came up with the name of Southern California Bonsai Club.
The name of the club was changed to the California Bonsai Society in 1957. On April 27, 1957, it held its first exhibition at the California Museum of Science and Industry at Exhibition Park in Los Angeles. The society continued to use this venue until damage from the 1994 Northridge earthquake resulted in the building being condemned.
The annual exhibition was moved to the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in San Marino near Pasadena. Recently, thanks to John Naka and the membership of the California Bonsai Society, the annual exhibitions have been the benchmark for bonsai exhibitions in America.
The California Bonsai Society published the first issue of Bonsai in California in 1967, which was sold at their annual exhibition. The reason for this publication, oddly enough, was monetary. At that time the society was financially strapped and needed a method for securing funds.
John Naka came up with an idea for the magazine and a $5 donation as the purchase price. This became a huge success with many donations far exceeding the asking price. The magazine contained exquisite photos of the finest in bonsai and suiseki along with excellent informative articles concerning all things bonsai. This first issue, now a collector’s item, had a stunning color photo of a solitary Limber pine atop Mt. Baden-Powell in the San Gabriel Mountains.
In April 2000, during California Bonsai Society’s annual bonsai exhibition at the Huntington Library, awards were presented to local bonsai pioneers who were eighty years or older and who were members at the time of the first exhibition in 1957. Those honored included John and Alice Naka, George and Kay Yamaguchi, Harry and Nobie Iba, Harry and Alyce Hirao, Kay Komai, Gloria Stewart, Mas Moriguchi, Frank Dono, and Umenori and Kiyoko Hatanaka.
On June 6, 1960, Frank Iura and several fellow bonsai and suiseki enthusiasts founded the Los Angeles Bonsai Club. The club’s annual exhibitions were highly anticipated in the bonsai community. They held a final gathering of members in February 1998.
In the late 1950’s a group of bonsai enthusiasts from the Marina Gardeners Association formed the Marina Bonsai Club located in Venice. The club has no formal president but their instructors include Ben Oki, Frank Goya, Mas Moriguchi and Shig Miya, all former students of John Naka.
In 1961, students of Frank Nagata wanted to begin a bonsai club out of admiration for their master and Baikoen Bonsai Kenkyukai was born. The annual bonsai exhibition “Winter Silhouettes” is very popular and is now dedicated to the memory of Frank Nagata.
Orange County Bonsai Society began in 1963 and the founder was Francis Watari. The Santa Anita Bonsai Society was founded in 1964 by a group that included Dixie and Dick Shaner, Kahn and Kay Komai, Melba Tucker, Virginia Danaher, and Jim Barrett.
Ben Suzuki founded the Akebono Bonsai Society in 1968. They held their meetings at the Los Angeles Arboretum. Unfortunately the organization disbanded in January of 1998.
Descanso Bonsai Society was founded in 1970 by Dick Wydman who was its first president. John Catlin was conducting bonsai classes at Descanso Gardens and members of that class formed the nucleus of the club. For many years they held their annual show outdoors at the Descanso Gardens on the lawn under the oaks in La Canada Flintridge near Pasadena. It was a wonderful venue for a bonsai exhibition. In the late 1970s, under the leadership of Jim Everman, this popular club had a membership of nearly one hundred eighty individuals.
In 1976, Marybel Balendock, Larry Ragle, and Harry Hirao founded Kofu Bonsai Kai and held their first show at a local nursery in Fountain Valley. The club has over two hundred and sixty members.
Other bonsai clubs that were active in the 1970s include Kinpu Kai, Venice Bonsai Club, Gardena Bonsai Club, Chofu Kai, San Gabriel Bonsai Club, Palos Verdes Bonsai Society, Valley Satsuki Azalea Society, Suifu Kai, the Southern California Chapter of the Nippon Satsuki Kai, and the Southern California Saikei Society.
This text is an excerpt from article “Bonsai in Los Angeles: A History of the Early Years, 1933-1975” by Ray Yeager who lives in Yucca Valley and is a member of California Aiseki Kai for 24 years.