NABF Newsletter #4

Feature #1

President's Letter

This issue of the NABF Newsletter opens a panoramic view of the bonsai community in the North-Central Region of North America. Its pioneers included veterans returning from Japan after World War II, and it was nurtured by Japanese and Japanese-American bonsai masters. The very fruitful collaboration between Alex Alexander and Susumu Nakamura is explored with sensitivity in Feature #2, "Bonsai, a Bridge in Time Between Cultures."

The "Bridge in Time" story demonstrates the power and reality of the mission of the World Bonsai Friendship Federation (WBFF) -- promoting world friendship, peace and goodwill through bonsai. This story makes clear that many bonsai lovers in the North-Central Region are following the path of bonsai no kokoro (the spirit of bonsai) in bringing about this widespread flowering of bonsai interest in the area.

The theme of bonsai no kokoro is also implicit in Andy Smith's elegant article, "From Some Wild Places," on collecting bonsai in their natural habitat. This is a penetrating piece -- finely balancing the excitement of collecting and its ethics, revealing how caring for our bonsai deepens our appreciation of nature (and thus our world and each other), and giving valuable tips on how to keep a newly collected tree alive.

(For those interested in collected bonsai and the history of bonsai in Japan, watch for the publication on this website in the near future of the English-language version of a fascinating new article -- with many photos -- on collecting Shinpaku junipers in Japan over the last few centuries. This article will be published with the permission of the publisher of Kinbon Magazine, thanks to a generous grant from Daizo Iwasaki, WBFF's Vice-Chairman.)

Our Regional Editor Jack Douthitt is so right about there being a "surprising number of public collections in the region." This issue of the Newsletter sets the record straight. It provides an arm-chair opportunity to visit three public collections in Michigan (Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Tipton) and one collection in Des Moines, Iowa, as well as linking you to the website of the outstanding Chicago Botanic Garden which now includes bonsai from Susumu Nakamura's collection.

This issue also gives you a taste of the superb annual Mid-America Bonsai Exhibit at the Chicago Botanic Garden; includes a Gallery of photos taken by Reiner Goebel of excellent bonsai from the North Central Region; provides a summary of the first-ever "New Talent Competition" held in North America, sponsored by Joshua Roth; and updates you on the plans for the 5th World Bonsai Convention to be held In Washington, D.C. in 2005.

Congratulations to Regional Editor Jack Douthitt and Assistant Regional Editor Scott Clark for making this such a remarkable issue of the NABF Newsletter!

Felix Laughlin
NABF President