Bonsai: An Introduction To The Art Of Bonsai

As far as I know, the word "bonsai" actually has two meanings. In one scenario it is the word used by a young male child just prior to using a plastic Peter Pan sword to roto-rooter a nearby adult's left nostril. In the second, it refers to a small tree which is planted in a pot and creatively pruned. This program is about the second form of bonsai. Produced by the Puget Sound Bonsai Association, the video features internationally known bonsai artist Ray Nagatoshi showing young adults various kinds of bonsai trees and demonstrating some basic bonsai art techniques. Nagatoshi assures the kids that the various "training" straps put on bonsai trees in order to alter the direction of their growth does not "hurt" them (and one imagines that Chinese mothers used to tell their daughters the same thing just before binding their feet.) But there's no question that the trees look very striking and lovely. In addition the program covers the history of and underlying philosophy behind bonsai, and visits a couple of the more famous bonsai collections: the Weyerhauser Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection, and the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum at the US National Arboretum. Not a detailed course in the art of bonsai, by any means, this video does accomplish nicely what its subtitle promises: An Introduction to the Art of Bonsai. Recommended. (Available from: Wehman Video, 2366 Eastlake Ave., Suite 420, Seattle, WA 98102; (206) 726-0220.)