Art in the Garden
Urban Green: Small Trees for Small Spaces
Keshiki Bonsai by Kenji Kobayashi
of Sinajina, TokyoSummer 2011

Urban Green: Small Trees for Small Spaces

Nestled along a quiet residential street in theJiyugaoka neighborhood of Tokyo is a contemporary
bonsai studio named Sinajina (sheena-jeena), whereKenji Kobayashi is leading a grassroots movement
to bring people and nature back together in 21stcentury Japan.
“Sinajina presents exquisite miniaturizationsof natural landscapes. Yet this is bonsai with adifference,” says Dr. Jared Braiterman, a cultural
anthropologist who has researched how green spaces
make Tokyo a livable city. “Unlike the centuries-oldart form of traditional bonsai, Mr. Kobayashi uses
young plants and experiments with a much wider
variety of pots and styles, many of which he designs
himself. He is proud that his contemporary approach
has introduced small-scale plants to a youngeraudience.”

2A RT IN THE GA RDEN

Mr. Kobayashi started his career as a student oflandscape architect Hachiro Sakakibara, one of thePortland Japanese Garden’s former directors. At hissuggestion, Mr. Kobayashi traveled to Portland tostudy the relatively new saikei style of bonsai withMasa Furukawa of Japan Bonsai in Portland, asSakakibara himself had done when he worked at thePortland Japanese Garden in the 1970s. Developed
originally by Toshio Kawamoto of Tokyo, saikei is a
20th-century offshoot of traditional bonsai in whichminiature forests of young trees were used instead of
the seasoned single specimen trees cultivated overcenturies in traditional bonsai. Returning to Tokyo,
Mr. Kobayashi took this newer style one step further,encouraging young urbanites to pick up a trowel andbring a little piece of nature into their busy lives.
At Sinajina, Mr. Kobayashi hosts regular classes inwhich customers can create and maintain their own

exquisite miniature landscapes. “Actively caring forplants,” Mr. Kobayashi insists, “is the best way toconnect with nature. City dwellers can learn aboutlife cycles, witness seasonal change and growth. It’s
not enough for city people to visit the countrysidefor a day,” he says. “They must find a way to bringnature into their daily lives.”
This summer’s Art in the Garden exhibition brings
Mr. Kobayashi back to Portland after a 15-year
absence for an exhibition of work created on-sitein the weeks leading up to the exhibition. Many ofthe works in this exhibition were created in original
ceramic vessels made by artists of the Oregon
Potter’s Association, while others were created inKobayashi’s own designer containers. This coming
together of cultures and art forms lies at the heartof the Portland Japanese Garden, which has been acreative bridge between the two cultures for almost
half a century.

SUMMER 2011

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S P ON S OR E D BY :James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation; Jack & Lynne Hoffman Donor
Advised FundS PEC I A L T H A N K S T O :The Mark Spencer Hotel; Cistus Nursery

Diane Durston
Curator of Culture, Art, and Education
ddurston@japanesegarden.org

All Photos: Jonathan Ley

Portland Japanese Garden | Post Office Box 3847 | Portland, Oregon 97208-3847© 2018 Portland Japanese Garden. All rights reserved. Printed on 100% recycled fiber content with 100% post-consumer waste. Processed chlorine-free. FSC certified.