Bonsai Activities of the Toronto Japanese Garden Club by Wilma Swain To describe the bonsai activities of the Toronto Japanese Garden Club, I can only record that which I remember and which Jim Campbell has found in his records. In truth, the written record is remarkably sparse, so where gaps appear, please blame my failing memory. It was around 1963 that the club under Mam Nishi's chairmanship held a meeting at the new Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre at which Lois Wilson talked about the growing of bonsai, and illustrated her talk with examples of miniature cacti in thimble sized pots. Thereafter, meeting were held of those interested in bonsai growing, and eventually that group became known as the Toronto Bonsai Society, operating separately from the Garden Club. In those early years, therefore, it is hard to separate the activities of the two clubs. We remember workshops in the Nishi garage on October in 1969 when Mr. Hisaeda, an expert in landscape design from Japan, who had also studied Bonsai, tried to teach several of us the elements of bonsai design. We learned on(e) thing -- mainly that styling or potting bonsai is best done in the springtime. We remember the many arguments about whether a small tree reclaimed from the forest and planted in a shallow pot was really to be classified as a bonsai. The more schooled Japanese insisted that the tree needed more styling and refinement to make claim to the title of bonsai. To name a few of the more knowledgable members, we must include Tosh Kitagawa, Mr. Kensuke Takata, Mr. Roy Oyagi in Chrysanthemum bonsai and Mr. Shinichiro Murata. Our first major teacher was brought here from New York, Mr. Frank Okamura. Through drawings on the blackboard and by demonstrating the styling and potting of a chosen tree, he lectured effectively at the fall shows at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre on several different occasions. Frank was the bonsai expert working at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens in New York, and we learned our basics from him. The Japanese Garden Club established an autumn show at the Cultural Centre, and later a spring show held with the joint sponsorship of Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. At each show a major portion was devoted to the exhibit of bonsai. No prizes were awarded, because no one wanted to discourage beginners from trying. However, in the last two years, there has been discussion towards awarding a "Best Bonsai in the Show" trophy. For one or two seasons bonsai classes were held weekly at O.I.S.E. under the chairmanship first of Mr. Mamoru Nishi and then under the late Frank Oda. There was excellent attendance at those classes, at which members who had studied more deeply tried to help other members learn the basics of design and daily care. Bonsai culture has become so popular in the Toronto area that major thefts have occurred, notably most recently from the Humber Arboretum. So take note, bonsai has become a treasure worth great care. First published in "Tei-en" a commemorative book of the Toronto Japanese Garden Club's fortieth anniversary November 1992 - reprinted with permission.