John Naka's Bonsai Techniques I

JasonG

Hello everyone,

I have read Bonsai Techniques I cover to cover, and am currently re-reading it. Great information for a beginner like myself. Now I just have to figure out where to obtain good material . . .

As for the price, don't buy it through Amazon.

You can get it through Bonsai Clubs International for $25.00 (even if you're not a member) ... and on that note, you can get Bonsai Techniques II for $35.

Here's the link:

http://www.bonsai-bci.com/books.htm

Happy Shopping!

Jason.

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FredL

Well, Jason, unless I am misreading them, part of the message of "Bonsai Techniques I and II" is that good material is all around us. Naka shows techniques that can turn pretty ho-hum material into excellent starting points. I have been very pleased at the progress a number of my trees have made from pretty modest beginnings using the techniques he explains. Perhaps I am too easily pleased, but my objectives are modest: good, solid trees that look like decent bonsai. I don't think that Naka feels you have to have the talent of a world-renowned artist or the material that such a person would demand to meet these more modest standards of success.

Fred

bobbowobbo

I just bought this from a used bookstore in upstate New York. I was just perusing the gardening section and there it was. This is an older one, a third printing I believe. But here is the best part. I opened it to look through, and on the title page written in beautiful cursive was written:

To: Margaret

I hope this will be the beginning of your never ending love for bonsai.

John Yoshio Naka

June, 1979


Of course, I had to buy this. I talked the owner down to $45 and walked out feeling like I had just stolen this gem. This is definitely the crown jewel to my ever grwing bonsai book collection.

PatArizona

Techniques I & 2 are my most read bonsai books...still return to them on occasion...after these manysomething years.


"...reknown grandmaster of the bonsai art.."

Four and a half years old...or so...this thread is...amazed am I that nobody has added that Naka was the grandmaster of AMERICAN bonsai art!

Pat

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BONSAI isn't about surviving in a storm, rather, how to dance in the rain.
THE ONLY WAY: Always remember, and don't ever forget, that whatever you read here is not cast in concrete... the intent of any advice is to help. In no way should you feel that I’m saying that my way is the only way…heaven forbid! I've seen far too much of the "my way or the highway" attitude in bonsai as well as in other areas of life.