The art of bonsai has contended with a number of challenges throughout the years. Unlike other works of art, bonsai plants are alive and continue growing even after the artist has long since passed. Rooted in Issei and Nisei hobbyist practitioners, bonsai is a curious art split along generational lines in America. “I think I […]
The roots of California bonsai, the Issei and Nisei artists of yesteryear
April 2, 2022 by Leave a Comment
Filoli estate’s ties to the Japanese American experience
April 29, 2021 by Leave a Comment
The Filoli Historic House and Garden is beautiful year-round, but spring ? with its flowering cherry blossoms, wisterias, peonies and azaleas ? attracts the most visitors each year. The estate in the San Mateo County town of Woodside, Calif., a Georgian-style house with an attached garden covering 16 acres of the 654-acre property, has a […]
LIVING ART FORM: Dennis Makishima’s aesthetic pruning
August 16, 2018 by Leave a Comment
EL CERRITO, Calif. Dennis Makishima professed that he didn’t like trees when he was growing up in the 1960s. The Sansei Berkeley, Calif. native explained that he and his friends were embarrassed by their gardener fathers and housekeeper mothers. But two decades later, Makishima would find himself creating his own field of gardening as the […]
Sacramento Bonsai Club celebrates 70 years
April 1, 2016 by Leave a Comment
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Believed to be the oldest bonsai club in California, the Sacramento Bonsai Club celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. Founded in 1946, the club’s first meetings were held at the Buddhist Church of Sacramento at its old location on O Street. The meetings moved when Sacramento’s 1958 Redevelopment Plan forced the temple […]
Japanese cultural arts classes
April 3, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Editor’s Note: Don’t see your cultural group listed? Contact us at cbfguide@nichibeiweekly.org to add your group to our cultural arts class listings. Daion Taiko Location: Orange County Buddhist Church, 909 S. Dale Ave., Anaheim, Calif. Contact: (714) 827-9590, daion78@gmail.com, ocbuddhist.org Drum Revolution Location: Belmont, Calif.; Orinda, Calif. and El Cerrito, Calif. Contact: (510) 926-9780, info@drumrevolution.com, […]
Japanese cultural classes
April 4, 2014 by 2 Comments
Taiko San Francisco GenRyu Arts Location: Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, 1840 Sutter St., S.F.’s Japantown Contact: (415) 420-3151, info@genryuarts.org, www.genryuarts.org Maikaze Daiko Location: Dance Mission Theater, 3316 24th St., S.F. Contact: (415) 513-7798, info@maikazedaiko.org, www.maikazedaiko.org San Francisco Taiko Dojo Classes: 212 Ryan Way South San Francisco, CA 94080 Contact: (415) 928-2456, […]
Get Green this Weekend
January 28, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Got no plans for the upcoming weekend? With apologies for being so last-minute on this, here are a couple activities to get you into the environmental swing of things: For my people in Chicago, the Chicago Botanic Garden is hosting a bonsai show and accompanying lecture to “celebrate the winter season in the Japanese tradition.” […]
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