NABF Newsletter #1

Feature #3

Naka and NABF

by Ted Tsukiyama

The World Bonsai Friendship Federation (WBFF) is the only bonsai organization global in scope and in membership constituency formed with a purpose and program of achieving international friendship, peace and goodwill through bonsai. The WBFF was the inspiration and creation of world-famed bonsai master Saburo Kato, but the successful formation of the WBFF could have hardly been achieved without the influence and the hand of his close bonsai friend, John Naka.

John Naka’s friendship with Saburo Kato dates back to1965 when John visited the 39th Kokufu-ten in Tokyo where he was introduced to Kyuzo Murata, Daizo Iwasaki and other leading bonsai figures of Japan, not the least being Saburo Kato. John Naka was quickly acknowledged as a bonsai teacher and master in the United States, and with John’s native ability for spoken Japanese and friendly charm he was warmly accepted into the circle of Japan’s bonsai elite. A bond of mutual bonsai friendship was immediately formed between Naka and Kato, and every Japan trip thereafter taken by John would include a visit to Mansei-En in Omiya to “talk bonsai” and to increasingly strengthen John’s friendship with Saburo Kato over the years and up to the present.

Expo ’70 in Osaka was the medium to expose the beauty of Japan’s bonsai to thousands of foreign Expo visitors, awakening the potential of bonsai to an international cultural art transcending bounds of geography, language or culture, and the seeds of the concept of a world bonsai organization were first sown and germinated. The two friends were able to meet again in 1976 when a delegation from the Nippon Bonsai Association including Saburo Kato made a Bicentennial Celebration gift of 53 bonsai to the National Arboretum in Washington D.C.. In 1980, the Nippon Bonsai Association hosted a World Bonsai Conference in Osaka attended by bonsai leaders from eleven countries which ultimately adopted a resolution “to deepen international friendship through the promotion of bonsai” and work toward the establishment of an international bonsai organization. Saburo Kato participated as the Managing Director of Nippon Bonsai Association and John Naka attended representing California Bonsai Society.

By 1987 Saburo Kato had ascended to the chairmanship of Nippon Bonsai Association and a meeting was convened in Osaka, Japan of a Steering Committee to plan and organize the World Bonsai Friendship Federation. The overseas members of the Steering Committee were Dr. Peter Brown of England, Paul Lesniewicz of Germany, and John Naka and Ted Tsukiyama from the USA. It was obvious that John Naka played a key role in the organization of the WBFF and was heavily depended upon by Saburo Kato because of his international standing and repute in the bonsai world and serving as the critical language link between Japan and the outer bonsai world. To effectively achieve the purpose of promoting international friendship and goodwill through bonsai, the membership of WBFF was limited to nine member regions of the world, each to organize a federation of bonsai interests within each region to represent that region on the governing board of WBFF. The plans also called for a World Bonsai Convention to be held every four years and the WBFF would be inaugurated at the first World Bonsai Convention to be held in 1989 in Omiya, Japan.

The WBFF By-Laws provided that each member region would organize a regional organization through Regional Agents appointed by the Steering Committee Chairman, and John Naka was appointed as Regional Agent for the North America Region. The North America Bonsai Federation (NABF) was organized in 1989 through the efforts of John Naka enrolling 34 bonsai clubs and organizations in Canada and USA as NABF members, who in turn immediately elected John Naka as its first President to sit on and represent NABF on the newly formed WBFF Board of Directors. This was precisely what Saburo Kato had hoped for and he persuaded the WBFF Board to elect John Naka as Vice-Chairman of WBFF to assist himself who had been elected WBFF Chairman.

Under the leadership of Kato and Naka the WBFF has published two international bonsai albums and sponsored World Bonsai Conventions every four years following the 1989 WBC at Omiya, Orlando, Florida in 1993, Seoul, Korea in 1997 and Munich, Germany in 2001. John Naka attended the first three WBCs and contributed as a featured headline demonstrator at all three conventions. The WBFF had been financially supported by Nippon Bonsai Association during its first 12 years but WBFF program activity waned as a consequence of Japan’s decade long economic depression. At the WBFF Board meeting at the Munich WBC Chairman Kato’s proposal to rotate the Chairmanship every four years to coincide with the forthcoming quadrennial WBC was adopted, thus the WBFF Board’s selection of Washington D.C. as the locus of the 2005 WBC automatically passed the administrative leadership of WBFF to the NABF and its President, John Naka.

In recent years as John Naka’s health and energy declined, he pleaded with Saburo Kato to be relieved from his post as WBFF Vice-Chairman but Saburo Kato would not tolerate the loss of John’s presence on the WBFF Board and told John they had to hang on together. But John Naka’s assumption of the WBFF leadership after the Munich Board action brought the matter to a head and he asked to be allowed to step down from the presidency of NABF by calling for a new election of officers of NABF which would relieve him from the leadership burden of both WBFF and NABF. A new election of NABF officers conducted in March 2002 resulted in the election of Felix Laughlin as the new President of NABF, and automatic assumption of WBFF chairmanship for the next four years, while John Naka was elected as “President Emeritus” of NABF. In turn, the WBFF Board has recently approved the appointment of Saburo Kato and John Naka as “Chairman Emeritus” and “Vice-Chairman Emeritus” of WBFF, respectively.

A memorable reunion of these two friends occurred in May, 2002 upon the occasion of the naming and dedication of the “ Saburo Kato Stroll Garden” at the U.S. National Arboretum when John Naka made his attendance in honor of his old bonsai friend. Tears trickled down Saburo Kato’s face as he embraced John, exclaiming that he had never expected to see his old friend again. As one of his first acts as the new WBFF Chairman Felix Laughlin convened an informal consultative meeting with Saburo Kato and John Naka to seek their opinions, advise and assistance for his future administrative leadership of WBFF and NABF. This was a momentous historic event which prompted this writer to observe:

"This was a significant event in bonsai history involving the outphasing of an important era dominated by bonsai giants Kato and Naka, and the passing of the torch to a younger generation of leadership in the world bonsai movement. It was a sad, yet inspiring and encouraging moment in the assurance that the flaming torch that changed hands will continue to burn brightly. Our indebtedness and gratitude to Saburo Kato and John Naka will not diminish. We who were present were privileged to witness a major significant historic event in the evolving history of world bonsai!"