Cool video on National collection

my nellie

Masterpiece
Messages
2,288
Reaction score
2,631
Location
Athens, Greece
USDA Zone
9a
Edit : ...Sadly this is reminding of "Fudo" though :(
 

my nellie

Masterpiece
Messages
2,288
Reaction score
2,631
Location
Athens, Greece
USDA Zone
9a
Hi, Alain!

"Fudo" was a world famous juniper bonsai, collected from the wild in 1910 estimated to be 800-1000 years old at collection.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden started in 1929 to acquire famous bonsai trees imported from Japan. One of them was "Fudo"
The imported trees had to be bare rooted, changed the soil and fumigated in concordance with quarantine laws.
Unfortunately this prized bonsai finally died due to the combined and severe treatment.....
"Fudo" is still remaining on display.
This sad event almost caused the Japanese government to oppose the Bicentennial Gift of Bonsai to the USA......

This is what "Fudo" was....
FudoLife.jpg
From pg. 88 of the article "Japanese Miniature Trees," Life, October 7, 1946
about Keibun Tanaka's 20-year-old 5,000-tree collection in suburban Tokyo, this picture of what we would know as "Fudo."
Has the erroneous caption of "300-YEAR-OLD PINE TREE IS VALUED AT $2000."
(The image in a copy of an article long in our files was brought to RJB's attention again by Roberto Pagnin, Italy, 27 May 2008 in personal e-mail.
This copy gotten from Google's Life Magazine photo archives at http://images.google.com/hosted/life/1d30469dca4234bd.html.
Photographer is listed as Alfred Eisenstaedt.)
Excerpt from : http://www.magiminiland.org/KMurata2.html


And this is the preserved remains of that special tree....
preservedFudo.jpg
Excerpt from : http://www.magiminiland.org/KMurata2.html
 

rockm

Spuds Moyogi
Messages
14,182
Reaction score
22,180
Location
Fairfax Va.
USDA Zone
7
Hi, Alain!

"Fudo" was a world famous juniper bonsai, collected from the wild in 1910 estimated to be 800-1000 years old at collection.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden started in 1929 to acquire famous bonsai trees imported from Japan. One of them was "Fudo"
The imported trees had to be bare rooted, changed the soil and fumigated in concordance with quarantine laws.
Unfortunately this prized bonsai finally died due to the combined and severe treatment.....
"Fudo" is still remaining on display.
This sad event almost caused the Japanese government to oppose the Bicentennial Gift of Bonsai to the USA......

This is what "Fudo" was....
FudoLife.jpg
From pg. 88 of the article "Japanese Miniature Trees," Life, October 7, 1946
about Keibun Tanaka's 20-year-old 5,000-tree collection in suburban Tokyo, this picture of what we would know as "Fudo."
Has the erroneous caption of "300-YEAR-OLD PINE TREE IS VALUED AT $2000."
(The image in a copy of an article long in our files was brought to RJB's attention again by Roberto Pagnin, Italy, 27 May 2008 in personal e-mail.
This copy gotten from Google's Life Magazine photo archives at http://images.google.com/hosted/life/1d30469dca4234bd.html.
Photographer is listed as Alfred Eisenstaedt.)
Excerpt from : http://www.magiminiland.org/KMurata2.html


And this is the preserved remains of that special tree....
preservedFudo.jpg
Excerpt from : http://www.magiminiland.org/KMurata2.html

It was a sad tale, but the gift to the National Arboretum was a gift to the FEDERAL government and not a private entity. Big difference. I also don't think the death of Fudo played all that big of a role in the process. It was a cautionary tale and the Japanese had to be re-assured that we knew what we were doing. Those concerns were more than satisfied due to their confidence in Creech, his abilities and the backing of the government in planning a special, dedicated pavilion for them in the Nation's Capital. It was a diplomatic gift, first and foremost, making it a "too big to fail" kind of thing. I sympathize as I kind of started bonsai that way too, buying an imported Korean hornbeam two years into the hobby. There was a lot riding on my ability to keep that pricey tree alive (ask my wife).

There is a book about the entire process which I ran across in a local D.C. bookstore last year--"The Bonsai Saga: How the Bicentennial Collection Came to America." It's a must read if you're interested in details about the original collection and how it got here.

It's interesting to see the original trees now and how they looked when they were sent over.
https://www.bonsai-nbf.org/japanese-collection/
Creech died in 2009--but his efforts live on.
http://www.bonsai-nbf.org/wp-content/documents/bulletins/NBF_Bulletin_Fall09.pdf
 

my nellie

Masterpiece
Messages
2,288
Reaction score
2,631
Location
Athens, Greece
USDA Zone
9a
rockm, thank you for all the additional info.
It was a sad tale, but the gift to the National Arboretum was a gift to the FEDERAL government and not a private entity. Big difference. I also don't think the death of Fudo played all that big of a role in the process. It was a cautionary tale and the Japanese had to be re-assured that we knew what we were doing... ...
I am not that knowledgeable... What I wrote above I have read in excerpts of the book titled "Bonsai & Penjing : Ambassadors of Peace & Beauty" by Ann McClellan https://books.google.gr/books?id=G7...6AEINTAG#v=onepage&q=fudo bonsai died&f=false
 

rockm

Spuds Moyogi
Messages
14,182
Reaction score
22,180
Location
Fairfax Va.
USDA Zone
7
rockm, thank you for all the additional info.
I am not that knowledgeable... What I wrote above I have read in excerpts of the book titled "Bonsai & Penjing : Ambassadors of Peace & Beauty" by Ann McClellan https://books.google.gr/books?id=G73LDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA90&lpg=PA90&dq=fudo+bonsai+died&source=bl&ots=Jrx_DzjEHS&sig=RB4DEa29FjV1OxbTIpPj2-XjOpU&hl=el&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiqrNH_85LVAhVpJ8AKHSPnAW4Q6AEINTAG#v=onepage&q=fudo bonsai died&f=false
I think the text is a bit overblown in saying the death of Fudo "almost caused the Japanese government to oppose" the bi-centennial gift. That 53 trees made their way here and are still here--and have been joined by over a dozen more Japanese trees, says quite a lot.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom