KARACHI: The Information and Culture Centre of the Consulate General of Japan in Karachi organised a bonsai workshop in collaboration with the Pakistan Bonsai Society on Saturday where the history, tradition and techniques of growing artistically shaped miniature trees was discussed.

“For bonsai, patience is the name of the game,” said Khawaja Mazhar, founder and president of the Pakistan Bonsai Society, during his pruning, wiring, trimming and re-potting demonstration.

Founded in 1998 by a group of enthusiasts, Pakistan Bonsai Society is a non-profit society of hobbyists who hold workshops on the first Saturday of each month.

Meanwhile, Imran Ehsan, also a bonsai expert, while providing a presentation on the ancient art, said that they were getting evidence now that some 3,000 years ago, bonsai originated from this region. “The monks settled around Taxila knew the medicinal values of many herbs and trees here,” he said. “From here, the tradition travelled to China with the monks and from there it reached Japan,” he added.

It was explained how bonsai was fine-tuned in Japan. “The definitions of bonsai were actually laid down in Japan,” said Mr Ehsan. The word literally means ‘tree in a tray’ or ‘planted in a container’. “Bonsai is the only living form of art in the world,” he said.

He also explained that there is a general impression that bonsai is a plant. But it is actually created from a plant. “This plant should have timber, a tapered trunk and lots of branches,” he said.

“You can grow bonsai from a seed, too, but then you will have to wait for 30 years after planting the seed,” he said, adding that then perhaps your next generation would enjoy the bonsai.

“But you can also make it from a cutting, air-layering on a large tree or selecting a plant from the nursery,” he said.

But then he warned not to buy an already prepared bonsai from a nursery as it dies soon. “Some are grafted and many are transported from some other country and the travel has left them weak. So they are commercially-used bonsai depictions, not real bonsai,” he said.

More on bonsai included a talk about its styles which could be upright, slanting, cascading, windswept, clumped, broom style, root on rock, etc. Guidelines about containers for the different styles were also provided. “But one should not get stuck so much in the styles and rules that one stops using their imagination,” he said.

Some other things discussed included a bit about suitable soil, fertiliser, proper drainage of water, proper lighting, etc. Earlier, Consul General of Japan Toshikazu Isomura said the bonsai workshop would contribute to better understanding of Japanese culture in Pakistan and enhance further friendship between the two countries.

“I am happy to see so much interest in bonsai here. It is a part of our culture that is flourishing here, so far from Japan,” he said. “I myself don’t know that much about bonsai, but I can learn from you.”

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2018