NABF Newsletter #8
Feature #12
Hawaii’s Bonsai Collections
By David W. Fukumoto
Kurtistown, Hawaii
Because of bonsai thefts which have plagued Honolulu, hobbyists prefer not to publicize their addresses in Hawaii. Visitors, however, have opportunities to experience the beauty of tropical bonsai and the aloha spirit of Hawaii at two bonsai collections open to the public. Besides these collections, there are on-going efforts to establish other bonsai collections in Hawaii.
Hawaii Bonsai Culture Center
In Oahu, on the beautiful windward side of Waimanalo, an extraordinary bonsai garden is being constructed on 20 acres in the shadow of the dramatic Koolau Mountains. It adjoins a forest reserve in a serene, inspiring, beautiful setting. The garden is open only by appointment and admission fee and owned by Walter and Ann Liew.
Walter & Ann Liew with a 900-year old doll from their large collection of cultural artifacts.
Walter Liew was born in Northern China in an aristocratic family. He fled to Taiwan in 1947 prior to the 1949 People's Revolution. He has a classical literary education and has handled the art treasures of the Imperial Palace that now are at the museum in Taiwan. He is well versed in the history, culture and the arts and is amongst the most knowledgeable penjing authorities in the world. He began penjing 45 years ago and moved to Hawaii 32 years ago. He knows the Wu family of Hong Kong, the Chinese penjing celebrities, and serves as interpreter for them as they pass through Hawaii.
Walter's collection is large both in size and quantity. He's been training trees for many years and is able to import trees of all ages. His lectures and programs teach penjing and bonsai as well as the Chinese culture and philosophy. Anyone truly interested in understanding the essence and spirit of aristocratic penjing should make an appointment to visit Walter Liew!
Walter Liew surveys his growing center with the aid of a golf cart. His collection includes a large variety of tropical trees such as banyans, Chinese elms, and bougainvilleas.
Walter imports Chinese ceramics, including some large Yixing pottery that he supplied to the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum in Washington, D.C.
Fuku-Bonsai Cultural Center & Hawaii State Bonsai Repository
On the Big Island between the town of Hilo and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, is Fuku-Bonsai, a working nursery that ships over 1,000 True Indoor Bonsaiä each month. With roots from a Fukumoto family hobby since 1962, the company became Hawaii's first certified export nursery in 1973 and a corporation since 1985. With the non-profit Mid-Pacific Bonsai Foundation, it underwrites and co-hosts the Hawaii State Bonsai Repository. Now, when Hawaii bonsai masters pass away, their finest bonsai can come here to be enjoyed by visitors.
The entry tree is a Dwarf Schefflera trained in the rainforest banyan style with an abundance of aerial roots. A revolving 6 feet diameter platform is turned to allow all sides to grow evenly.
The collection is amongst the most varied in the world with Japanese bonsai, Chinese penjing, Hawaiian tropical outdoor bonsai and Fuku-Bonsai's specialty True Indoor Bonsai. Significant trees have been trained by visiting masters including Saburo Kato, Tom Yamamoto, John Naka, Shinji Ogasawara, Pius Notter, and others. Memorial trees are by Haruo Kaneshiro, Horace Clay, Jackson Kansako, Theodore Oto and others. Contemporary donated bonsai have been from Ted Tsukiyama, Hiroshi Ikeda, Jiro Tanaka, and others. The collection is maintained by Michael Imaino, a Fuku-Bonsai senior manager and foundation president who has been with Fuku-Bonsai since 1983.
A view of some of the larger exhibit collection bonsai that include trees trained by Saburo Kato, John Naka, Shinji Ogasawara, Tom Yamamoto, and others.
Fuku-Bonsai's True Indoor Bonsai (houseplant bonsai) are the easiest to care and most successful bonsai gift for anyone who can grow houseplants. Extensive educational and workshop information is available on the website, which would print out to over 800 pages.
Some of the smaller Dwarf Schefflera in the collection including a few in training for just 2 years and four in training since 1976.
CONCLUSION
While Japanese bonsai was initially the greatest influence, Hawaiian bonsai has developed to fit Hawaii's climate and trees. Sophisticated Chinese training techniques are practiced more in Hawaii than anywhere else. It's a great place to learn these techniques and to enjoy a very different tropical form of bonsai.
E KOMO MAI… Come, enjoy the serenity of nature, the beauty of bonsai, and the spirit of Hawaii!
Location: Hawaii Bonsai Culture Center
41-909 Mahailua Street, Waimanalo, Hawaii 96795
Tel: (808) 373-9296 or (808) 259-6886
Website: www.bonsaiculturecenter.com
Location: Fuku-Bonsai Cultural Center & Hawaii State Bonsai Repository
17-656 Olaa Road, Kurtistown, Hawaii 96760
Tel: (808) 982-9880
Website: www.fukubonsai.com
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