Guy Joseph Guidry fondly remembers the moment he first encountered a bonsai tree, three decades ago.
Guidry spotted a cluster of the miniature trees in his neighbor’s backyard in New Orleans. They were neglected, so Guidry adopted them. He became obsessed with figuring out how to care for bonsai.
“I would be late for work and didn’t want to go inside,” Guidry said. “I desperately wanted to learn.”
He pored over books, picked up trimming tools and found mentors to help him get into the art of growing and shaping miniature trees in containers. The practice is derived from an ancient Chinese one known as penjing that was adopted by Japan.
Bonsai artists aim to realistically represent nature in the form of a miniature mature tree.
“Growing bonsai is just like [nurturing] a dog or a cat or having a child. It’s something you can’t neglect,” he said. “If you’re going away a bit, and if you don’t have a place where you’re constantly at, if you’re traveling, then it probably isn’t a good idea.”
On a recent spring day, Guidry walked over in his American-flag leather boots to a bald cypress he trained that’s on display at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum in Washington, D.C.
Guidry was among visitors celebrating the 400-year anniversary of the Yamaki Pine, nicknamed the “Peace Tree.” It’s the oldest tree at the museum, itself nestled at the National Arboretum.
But the bonsai tree’s impressive age is not its only claim to fame.
The Yamaki Pine miraculously survived the 1945 U.S. atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima that killed around 140,000 people.
“As I understand, the Yamaki Pine was positioned in the garden near a wall, and that wall protected it just enough that it survived and continues to thrive,” said Aaron Stratten, former president of the American Bonsai Society.
In 1976, Japan gifted 53 trees, including the Yamaki Pine, to the United States for its bicentennial.
“So, it becomes a really interesting symbol of that renewed relationship between the United States and Japan that came from a horrible war conflict to a place of friendship,” Stratten said.
The Yamaki Pine became a symbol of resilience by surviving the atomic bomb attack. When Japan later gifted the ancient bonsai to the country that had brought deadly devastation to its people, the tree came to also represent forgiveness, reconciliation and peace.
The Yamaki family, well known for operating a commercial bonsai nursery in the city, had trained the Japanese white pine in a pot for several generations.
“It is the tree in this national collection that has been cared for as a bonsai for the longest amount of time, been in a pot, cared for, taken care of by people for 400 years,” said Stratten, grinning ear to ear under his large straw hat during the celebration, which coincided with National Bonsai Day. “And that’s an amazing thing.”
Curator Michael James scurries around the museum with a cart filled with greenery, dirt and tools. He stops to give curious visitors directions and quick facts about bonsai trees, which he says brings people together.
“This art form, when it’s done well, it outlives you,” James said, pausing to admire the Peace Tree. “This tree is a great testament to that. That is a multigenerational art. So, it’s passed down. It’s passed forward to others. That’s how it brings people together.”
The audio story was edited by Ashley Westerman, and the digital version was edited by Olivia Hampton.
Transcript:
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Four hundred years old. That’s the age of the oldest bonsai tree in North America. Its birthday was celebrated this month, and NPR’s Destinee Adams was there.
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DESTINEE ADAMS, BYLINE: On a recent sunny morning at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum at the National Arboretum, a crowd of visitors are taking turns admiring the peace tree.
AARON STRATTEN: A literal translation of bonsai is a tree in a pot – or a plant in a pot or a tree in a tray, if you like alliteration.
ADAMS: That’s Aaron Stratten. The former president of the American Bonsai Society sports a large straw hat and a wide, contagious grin as he gestures toward the Yamaki pine – about 2 feet tall in a black rectangular pot, its green foliage perfectly trimmed.
STRATTEN: It is the tree in this national collection that has been cared for as a bonsai for the longest amount of time – been in a pot, taken care of by people for 400 years. And that’s an amazing thing.
ADAMS: This tree has survived a lot. It was first potted in Hiroshima, Japan, 400 years ago by the Yamaki family, a family known for operating a commercial bonsai nursery in the city for several generations. The bonsai survived the U.S. bombing of the city in 1945. Here’s a video from the U.S. War Department describing the scene.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: The bomb was exploded above the city, and in the towering mushroom, Japan could read its doom.
ADAMS: Over 30 years later, Japan gifted 53 bonsai trees, including this one, to the United States as a sort of peace offering for its bicentennial. Michael James is a curator of the museum, and he calls bonsai an art form.
MICHAEL JAMES: That is a multigenerational art, so it’s passed down, it’s passed forward to others. That’s how it brings people together.
ADAMS: Guy Guidry is a bonsai artist from New Orleans, Louisiana. And he has a tree on display.
Could you take us over to it?
GUY GUIDRY: It’d be a pleasure.
ADAMS: In American flag boots, he marches over to his tree, which stands out among the rest. It has no leaves, and it is meticulously wrapped in a jet-black wire. Guidry says he adopted his first bonsai 30 years ago from a neighbor who had neglected the plant.
GUIDRY: Growing bonsai is just like growing a dog or a cat or having a child. It’s something you can’t neglect.
ADAMS: Guidry laughs as he reminisces about all the friends and bonsai mentors he’s met in the past three decades. He is a proud embodiment of what this anniversary represents, togetherness, friendship and peace.
Destinee Adams, NPR News.
