The front of Ken Sugimoto's bonsai nursery. Photo: TQ Team 27458

In 1951, troops fought in the Korean war, the Rosenburgs were sentenced to death for espionage, Robert Frost published a collection of his poems, and Picasso and Dali created new masterpieces. But amid all the commotion and chaos of the post war world, a man named Ken Sugimoto quietly founded the first bonsai retail nursery in the United States.

Sugimoto's introduction to bonsai began during his childhood in Hiroshima, Japan. He learned the intricate art of bonsai from an old bonsai master who lived near him and soon, Sugimoto became devoted to the art.

As a young man, Sugimoto left Japan for the United States. Upon his arrival in America, he discovered that westerners were not familiar with the art of bonsai. Sugimoto later established the Peninsula Bonsai Club, the first of its kind in the United States, in an effort to educate people about the practices of Bonsai. He also founded Ken's Bonsai, a bonsai nursery. Sugimoto is credited with setting off the Bonsai movement in the U.S. that would blaze in years to come.

Sugimoto still works on bonsai but his son, Tak, who is now retired from the surging Tech Industry of Silicon Valley, helps run the nursery. Tak received exposure to bonsai at a young age like his father, and has continued to practice it.

All of the plants located in Ken's Bonsai Nursery are directly imported from Japan. The United States goverment does not allow soil to be imported from other countries so the bonsai must be removed from the dirt and washed before shipping. To maintain their moisture, plants are wrapped in spagmum moss and flown as a quickly as possible to ensure that the plant remains healthy.

Once these plants arrive in the U.S., they are replanted and cared for. The common practices for caring for the bonsai include repotting the plant, and trimming its branches. The effort of care given to the bonsai often allows them to live a long time.

"It's hard to imagine a plant that's a few hundred years old sitting in a pot like this," says Tak Sugimoto, gazing over the Nursery's vast bonsai collection.

To keep the plants small, techniques using wire are employed. Wire is wrapped around branches to put resistance on them and enable the branches to bend. Plucking the leaves off the bonsai before they fall off is another technique used.

"You know how big a maple leaf is? Well these are very small in comparison," says Sugimoto pointing out the nursery's oldest tree, a 300-year-old maple leaf bonsai.

Sugimoto says the bonsai represents Asian culture as well as peace and tranquility. He says this is the reason that many of the nursery's customers are technology workers.

"They're high tech...it's a stressful job so when they come home they want to see something more low-tech and relaxing. [The plants] give them that relaxation."