By Ken Schultz

I have had Bonsai Techniques and Bonsai Techniques II for quiet some time, but I have never reported on either of them before. Frankly, I haven’t read them from cover to cover as I have some of the other books in my collection because they are quiet thick. They are over 200 pages each. However, when Bonn Manicativapart was here for our workshop in April he treated the candles on the Black Pine differently than I remembered John Naka suggested in Bonsai Techniques. I commented on this and he said, “Old idea, this is newer.” As a result I went home and started leafing thru Bonsai Techniques.

During my bonsai readings, John Naka is referred to as the “Father of American Bonsai.” As I read various sections from Bonsai Techniques and Bonsai Techniques II I found them packed with information. Why had I ignored these treasures? Two reasons, the first as already mentioned is that they are too lengthy to report on them in such a short article and do them justice. The second reason is that there is no index of species. There is a table of contents, but it lists three pages of subject matter by bonsai technique…go figure. However, the chapters are not numbered either. This makes using the books as a quick reference difficult.

Bonsai Techniques was first published in 1973. John Naka who was raised in Colorado had moved to California and the book was written for his friends and students at the Bonsai Institute of California. Bonsai Techniques II was written later when his students and other readers asked for more detail.

At least 50% of every page is devoted to drawings or black and white photos showing what Naka is trying to explain. The steps are logical, unlike some of the newer books where many steps in between the start and the finish are left out. They try to make up for this with nice color photos.

Sprinkled throughout Bonsai Techniques are tables and charts summarizing repotting schedules, soil mixtures by species and size, and a care calendar by month. Naka spends several pages on each bonsai tree style; most new books give a photo and maybe a short paragraph. And as I remembered Bonsai Techniques contains ten pages on developing a Japanese Black Pine bonsai.

John Naka passed away a few years ago after a long and well-documented career as a bonsai artist. “Bonsai Today” ABS and BCI all devoted a memorial article to him. Goshen, a forest planting of Shimpaku, now in the care of the National Arboretum in Washington D.C. was pictured in these articles, and on John Hill’s website, http://www.bonsaibeginnings.org/. The original 1964 planting is pictured in Bonsai Techniques on page 221 and in on color plate 11. This national treasure has been in training for 52 years.

You will not find Bonsai Techniques and Bonsai Techniques II in a regular bookstore. Depending on condition and edition you may pay any place from $50 for the set to over $200 for a first edition. Perhaps more if they are signed. Good Reading.