Kid's Corner
Bonsai Drawings by children in Japan
Groups of school children will sometimes visit Mansei-en nursery to see
the bonsai and Mr. Saburo Kato will give a talk to them about bonsai.
He then asks if they will make some drawings and comments to give back to
him. Below are some of the drawings and comments that Mr. Kato has gathered
over the years. Below each is the translation of the child's comments.
Above: The "Cover" image
1. Mr. Kato, I now love bonsai so that I want the seeds of the plants you showed us. Really!! (by Hanako Mizusawa) (girl)
2. Mr. Kato, I was very surprised when I saw a plant (in a bonsai pot) that lived as long as 1000 years. There were plenty of other plants (as bonsai). Their prices were very expensive--as high as over 10,000 yen. Mr. Kato, thank you for telling us all these interesting things about bonsai. (by Tomoyuki Uchida) (boy)
3. Mr. Kato, thank you for showing us the bonsai the other day. I had never imagined that there are bonsai more than 1000 years old, but I can understand it now because you explained why in an easy language. Thanks again. (by Mao Iwai) (girl)
4. Mr. Kato, thank you for showing us the bonsai the other day. There were first-grade bonsai, sixth-grade bonsai, but it was a big surprise to see 1000 year old bonsai. The small bonsai were very cute. (by Tomoe Kurosawa) (girl)
5. Thank you for showing the bonsai to us. They were gorgeous. I'd like to see them again. (by Rie Enomoto) (girl)
6. They must be trying very hard because some of them live over 1000 years. (no name)
7. Bonsai plants originally came from forests. Small plants were picked up from forests. Each bonsai has its character. There are amiable bonsai just like pets, and there are others that do not want us to touch them, etc. Mr. Kato knows them all, and knows all about them.
I thought bonsai existed only in Bonsai-machi, here in Japan, because I saw many people came from abroad to study about them. I am surprised to know that there are 500 and 1,000 years old bonsai. When a person becomes interested in bonsai, his/her kids will also be interested in bonsai, and work hard to raise them, then Bonsai-machi will be famous.
When I look at bonsai, I imagine there are small people living in it. It will be fun if, at the stroke of the clock at midnight, they come out and play. (By Chiharu Tashiro) (girl)
8. There are small bonsai, twisted bonsai, big bonsai, and so on. It is fantastic! The one with red berries will attract birds. They will eat them “yam, yam.” Then there will be no more red berries, but branches. There are over 100 bonsai ?? straight trees, crooked ones, etc. Some of them look like monsters.
Just like those tiny berries that grow bigger and bigger, we can all grow bigger. Pity, they will be eaten by birds. There are so many of them now. The berries are so tiny! Maybe they don’t need much water. Grow, grow, little berries.
It’s a lot of work to grow even one bonsai. You’ll give them
water probably four times a day in summer. Then, it’ll grow bigger
and bigger. Bonsai will die if you don’t give plenty of water.
(By Aki Takayasu) (girl)
9. Various kinds
There are various kinds of bonsai: berry-bearing bonsai, evergreen bonsai,
autumnal coloring bonsai, and flowering bonsai. Sakura (cherry blossom)
is one of the flowering kinds, as we all know. If I were to grow bonsai,
maybe I’d choose autumnal coloring bonsai. Why? Because it is pretty.
Flowering bonsai will be nice, too. If I were to grow bonsai, I’d
like to grow pretty ones. But all the bonsai are good looking. I like them.
1000 years old bonsai
We were shown a bonsai tree which has lived over 1,000 years. Mr. Kato said
that the tree had lived about 600 years in a forest, and then has lived
for about 400 years in Mansei-en (Mr. Kato’s bonsai garden). This
is the first time I saw such a thing. It is awesome. It is big. I wondered
why it’s head is bent. Mr. Kato said the head was down by itself.
(By Mayumi Ito) (girl)
10. I was very surprised to see a 1,000 year old bonsai.
( By Yu Ishie) (boy)
11. By Hirotaka Usui (boy)
We saw a 1000 years old bonsai at Mansei-en. This 1000 years-old bonsai was about one meter tall and the pot it grows in was much larger than other bonsai. I thought that because it has grown so big it had to have large roots. The top leaves of the plant were spread out, formed like an umbrella. The width of each leaf is about 12 centimeters. The bonsai was good looking.
Mansei-en sells bonsai. Many people come from all the way from abroad to Mansei-en. They come to study and learn about bonsai. The prices of bonsai were from about 3000 yen (about $USD25), and some cost a few million yen. Larger bonsai were priced in the tens of millions of yen! It is something that these bonsai can cost so much.
In Mansei-en, there were many, many kinds of bonsai; several kinds of pines, spruce, maples, etc. I was quite impressed to hear from Mr. Kato that there are more than 100 kinds of bonsai. The people in Mansei-en must be taking really good care of the bonsai, to raise them so well.