Some Kudos and Credits for the Magiminiland.org Website

The following are the references that we've located to material on or derived from our web site(s). There have been additional mentions on various forums and we occasionally receive praise in random e-mails offering new information, corrections or questions. Of course, prior to the end of February 2016, all of the references to what are now magiminiland.org pages were phoenixbonsai.com or even the older (before early December 2000 and puzzling long-active) http://www.users.qwest.net/~rjbphx/.

At about the 1:25:27 mark in the August 2, 2024 Ryan Neil's Bonsai Mirai podcast, The World of Bonsai with Lindsay Farr: Part 2, Lindsay very kindly makes mention of our work. (I am very honored to be even a small part of this program, which is possibly the most sublime and esoteric discussion of our gardening interest made to date. The entire episode is VERY HIGHLY recommended.)

* * * * *

The February 2024 article "Investigation of bioactive constituents and evaluation of different in vitro antimicrobial, antioxidant, and cytotoxicity potentials of different Portulacaria afra extracts" by Shumaila Ijaz et al in the Journal of King Saud University - Science (Volume 36, Issue 2, 103033) contains two footnotes drawn from material in my Portulacaria monograph dated 2012. This is listed the fourth alphabetically of 39 references. The very interesting Conclusion of this study is "Research is being done on the phytochemicals that have been extracted from P. afra since it has been utilized as a source for drugs that are currently available on the market. It was determined that P. afra methanol extract has a significant potential to reduce oxidative stress based on the results of antioxidant assays. The FT-IR analysis found various classes of phytochemicals, which are in charge of P. afra biological and phytochemical activity. P. afra methanol extract has the highest level of phytotoxic potential. Further, antioxidant, antibacterial, cytotoxic and phytotoxic assays constitute scientific underpinnings and elaborated the various characteristics of medicinally characterized plant that plays a crucial part in defense mechanisms and can be effective against infections. Further research on the isolation and characterization of bioactive chemicals is still required in order to use them in the creation of drugs to treat wide a range of ailments."

* * * * *

Published before the second half of September, 2023, the Public Domain Review article A Careful Selection of Whisk Ferns (1837) references both our Iemtisu's Pine article and Books 1800 to 1849. (And while noting this reference, we were then able to add its final paragraph to our footnote #3 in the aforementioned Books!)

* * * * *

Submitted September 12, 2023 is the Master in Environmental Sciences and Engineering Postgraduate Thesis at Metropolitan Autonomous University, Azcapotzalco, Mexico City by Karla Patricia Reyes Lomelí, in Spanish, "Fitorremediación de suelo contaminado con cromohexavalente empleando las especies Portulacaria afra y Cynodon dactylon" ("Phytoremediation of soil contaminated with hexavalent chromium using the species Portulacaria afra and Cynodon dactylon"). My Portulacaria monograph with the date of 1999 is number [27] alphabetically of the 169 reference sources.

* * * * *

The September 2023 issue of The International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science Volume 33 contains the interesting article by Ayanda B. Zulu et al, "Review of the Underutilized Indigenous Portulacaria afra (Spekboom) as a Sustainable Edible Food Source." My Portulacaria monograph is number [7] alphabetically of the 63 reference sources.

* * * * *

An article by six South African researchers, "Review of the Underutilized Indigenous Portulacaria afra (Spekboom) as a Sustainable Edible Food Source," was published on 25 April 2023 in Agronomy 2023, 13(5), 1206. It makes extensive use of my Portulacaria monograph as number [20] of the 79 bibliographic sources. An older version of my on-going work was accessed in June of 2022 for this. "There are three excellent websites (online sources) on spekboom [Baran (2021), Hankey (2009) and Becking (2019)]. The online source of Baran (2021), a spekboom bonsai enthusiast, was the best with his website, last edited in October 2020."

* * * * *

Indian Bonsai Art on swaggercustoms.com on January 16, 2022 posted a copy of our article How Big is Bonsai?" from Bonsaiempire.

* * * * *

The seventeen-paragraph July 9, 2021 article of the Cannabonsai blog, "A short history of bonsai" includes two images from our website. The 3 references for Further Reading are https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Penjing#/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_bonsai, and https://www.magiminiland.org/ -- all at least heavily derived from our website.

* * * * *

In the newly re-designed Greek Bonsai Cosmos blog for November 6, 2020, Elsa Boudouri was generous in her praise for our work and included a link to the Bonsai Book of Days project.

* * * * *

The book Land of Plants in Motion: Japanese Botany and the World by Thomas R. H. Havens (University of Hawai'i Pres; 2020) in footnote 17 on pg. 160 "Notes to Pages 39-44" includes reference to our page about Greoge Meister..

* * * * *

Published on YouTube on July 13, 2020, the Aarin Packard hosted video, Bonsai at Camp Amache -- Art as solace & creative outlet, was part of the Pacific Bonsai Museum's exhibition "World War Bonsai: Remembrance & Resilience." At the very end of this 13:38 video are the credits which include nine sources for the images used therein. The second one listed (in alphabetical order) is "Robert Baron" [sic].

* * * * *

In the April 2020 issue of "All Fired Up," the Lowveld & Escarpment Fire Protection Association Newsletter, Issue 51, the article of page 3 "An Indigenous Treasure -- Spekboom" lists three references, the third one being www.magiminiland.org/Portulacaria.html (with the final 'l' being missing.) The article also uses our distribution map of South Africa..

* * * * *

Published Nov. 12, 2019, Eva Johnson's 29-page booklet, Bonsai and the Art of Display lists eleven works cited. Our Timeline article is the first listed alphabetically and the second is Bonsai Empire's What is Bonsai?, which we also wrote..

* * * * *

On October 8, 2019 Catherine Gontarek posted an article to the University of Pennsylvania's Kislak Center Arthur Tress Collection of Japanese Illustrated Books, "Torii Kiyomitsu, Maihime Nidai Hachinoki, 1774," which references our original ABS article about HachiNoKi..

* * * * *

On October 3, 2019 William N. Valavanis posted on Facebook a link to his latest blog entry, about a Yuji Yoshimura exhibit in Japan. In July, Fumiya Taguchi, a museum curator at the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum in Saitama City, had contacted RJB to see about getting a higher quality copy of the photo of Yuji straddling the benches for use in this exhibit. The photo is in our Yoshimura biography, and was originally given to me by Alice Feffer, a founding member of the Phoenix Bonsai Society who apparently was gifted an autographed copy of the newspaper photo by Yuji. I was able to track down the copy in my archives and sent Mr. Taguchi a high-resolution scan. He chose this image because "it has very good composition and symbolizes the achievements of Mr. Yoshimura." This exhibit was also the first time Bill would be doing a presentation in Japan.

* * * * *

On October 2, 2019, a podcast for which I was one of those interviewed (along with Dr. Tom Elias and Ryan Neil, among others) was broadcast, "Bonsai Behind Barbed Wire." I had been interviewed almost four months earlier, our website received high praise, and three times -- twice by me -- the phrase "magical miniature landscapes" is heard.

* * * * *

The September/October 2019 (Vol. 12, No. 5) issue of The Smoky Mountain Philatelist includes the pp. 8-9 article by Tom Krill, "Enjoying Two Hobbies Together," which includes the lines "The project was made easy when I discovered that all of the bonsai stamps worldwide were already documented on the website magiminiland.org which is a website devoted to the history of bonsai and related arts."

* * * * *

Three references (including footnotes 15 and 17) in the 2019 paper "Paper Trails: Deshima Island: A Stepping Stone between Civilizations" by Marc Jason Gilbert come from http://www.users.qwest.net/~rjbphx/1800Refs/Siebold.html [our first version].

* * * * *

At the bottom of page 10 of the August 2019 American Bonsai Society Newsletter is this short paragraph: "Just by happenstance, I discovered a site that lists bonsai conventions, symposia, etc. It's international and historical in scope. I thought that some of you might like to bookmark it. The parent page (magiminiland.org) is also interesting. --ed."(Ross Clark)

* * * * *

A July 24, 2019 article by Arjun Dhamrait, "Yuji Yoshimura: A Western Bonsai Messiah" has seven bibliographical rferences, the first of which is "Baran, Robert J. "YUJI YOSHIMURA." Yuji Yoshimura Biography, Part I, www.magiminiland.org/YY.html."

* * * * *

In the Vol 62, Issue 2, March 2019 issue of the Midwest Bonsai Society's newsletter, the President's Message on page 1 includes the following "We had a good time at the February meeting. Rich Katz refreshed us on getting our tools ready for the upcoming busy season, and we took a tour through the development and migration of our art from its earliest practice to its first steps onto American shores. It was an interesting tour. Credit should be extended to Robert Baran and his fantastic website Magiminiland.com. His Bonsai timeline is fascinating and the rest of the website is a wealth of Bonsai resources. It is well worth a few minutes of examination."

* * * * *

A November 30, 2018 article, "Ancient practice of bonsai delights" by Jennifer Osborn in The Ellsworth [Maine] American, includes some history from my Bonsai Empire article in 7 short paragraphs/sentences that are presented almost as if I was interviewed for this newspaper article.

* * * * *

In the Spring 2018 edition of the South Australian newsletter, an extensive article on "Our Club Patron -- Dorothy Koreshoff" ends with the note "Special thanks to Robert J. Baran for giving permission to use his material as a source for sections of this article."

* * * * *

In the July 2018 edition of the Springfield Bonsai Society newsletter, in the article "Using Native Plants as Bonsai - Oaks" at the top of page 9 there is the following:
"A side note: You may want to check out the following website about the 'Lincoln Tree,' said to be the first documented bonsai in the United States. Called the Daimyo Oak, it was a gift to the US from the Emperor of Japan brought here in 1863 by Lincoln's Secretary of State. It is presently part of the Golden State Bonsai Federation Collection North in Oakland, California. http://www.magiminiland.org/1800Refs/Burlingame.html"

* * * * *

In the July 2018 edition of the American Bonsai Society newsletter, in editor Ross Clark's article "Cons and Pros of Bonsai Lists" on page 9 there is the following paragraph: "There are some places where the focus is more realistic. For instance, the Phoenix Bonsai Society (PBS) has put together an amazing list of things that are tried and true as bonsai in Arizona. They've left out all of the others. And if you check their web site out, you'll see that each species has extremely detailed and well-documented information. I also noted that PBS is one of the oldest bonsai societies in our part of the world. When it comes to compiling a realistic list, I think they've set the bar very high." (A version of this page, of course, we added to that website in January 2001.)

* * * * *

How to Reach Japan by Subway: America's Fascination with Japanese Culture, 1945-1965 by Meghan Warner Mettler (University of Nebraska Press, 2018) includes footnote 38 "'Kyuzo Murata: The Father of Modern Bonsai' originally found at http://www.users.qwest.net/~rjbphx/Kmurata.html [our first version]. While the website no longer exists, a copy of this article remains in the BBG."

* * * * *

The 2018 Aalto University Master Thesis, "Inside a Sentimental Enclave, The Poetics of Miniature Landscapes" by Ruitong Zhao for the Master Programme in Visual Culture and Contemporary Art, included several references and images from our pages on Boshanlu, Tang through Ming portrayals, Japanese woodblock portrayals here and here and here, Hachi-No-Ki, and our History of Bonsai in Bonsai Empire.

* * * * *

The March 2018 article "Comparative study on carbon–nitrogen metabolism and endogenous hormone contents in normal and overgrown sweetpotato by W. Duan et al in the South African Journal of Botany (Volume 115, Pages 199-207) contains a single footnote referencing my Portulacaria monograph dated 2012. This is listed as the third alphabetically of 56 references.

* * * * *

Caroll Hermann's February 2018 article "Influence of bonsai on health and well-being as untapped resource contained 3 references from our site out of the 36 she used: John Naka, Some Don't Knows, and Enthusiast Census.

* * * * *

A January 13, 2018 page answering the question "Who Is Bonsai Mary?" by Mary C. Miller ends with the line "For history of bonsai in general please see the very thorough Robert Baran site."

* * * * *

A October 7, 2017 Reddit post by Mslapin noted that our Permanent Collections page was being mined for locations to be added to a grand Japanese Garden and Bonsai Nursery Map for the world, such Map having been started a few days earlier. (In turn, we would occasionally view that map to locate any sites we had not previously come upon.)

* * * * *

The October 1, 2017 edition of Wayne Schoech's "Bonsai Bark" blog, "American Bonsai at Kokufu?," includes three references to "Robert Baran's Kokufu Bonsai Ten, Part 1 on his Magical Miniature Landscapes website."

* * * * *

A September 14, 2017 Reddit post by MapleFinch praising our website resulted in a spike in visitors to our home page.

* * * * *

The July 3, 2017 issue of the Slovak bonsai blog by Ladislav Lencucha contained a small selection of material from our Kokufuten page and recommended it for the whole story.

* * * * *

Also on May 3, 2017, a Chinese article about a puzzle that has troubled naturalists for 200 years included the map of the Fa-Tee gardens and information about John Reeves from our Dr. Clarke Abel page.

* * * * *

"History of the ABS and Bonsai in America, Part 1: 1800's through 1967" by Doug Hawley (ABS Journal, Vol. 51, No. 1, pp. 6-19) includes us for two of the Bibliographic References: Baran, Robert. Designing Dwarfs in the Desert; Up Through the First 35 Years of the Phoenix Bonsai Society. 1997. and Baran, Robert. "Magical Miniature Landscapes (formerly on Phoenix Bonsai)". http://www.magiminiland.org. This is supposed to be the first of a four-part series on the history and development of bonsai in North America, and the history of the American Bonsai Society.

* * * * *

A May 3, 2017 answer to an original 2016 question "Why does this Jade plant have small leaves when compared to other Jade plants?" on the Gardening & Landscaping Stack Exchange forum included a link to our Portulacaria page.

* * * * *

An April 13, 2017 article by Lonnie J. Guralnick and Kate Gladsky, "Crassulacean acid metabolism as a continuous trait: variability in the contribution of Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) in populations of Portulacaria afra," (Heliyon, 3(4): e00293) includes a couple of references to our Portulacaria page, as per our oldest version through Google Scholar. The pleasantness of this is that there are several older reference to Guralnick's work already in that monograph.

* * * * *

The January 25, 2017 issue of the Lithuanian blog, BonsaiVilnius, was about the Kokufu Bonsai Ten, and, therefore, contained material from our website. Source and translation respectively given as "Sudare Robert J. Baran ir William N. Valavanis
Verte J. Mackevicius (2017 m. sausio 26 d. vertimas)"

* * * * *

A Master's Thesis in Spanish by Alba Calderón Ayesa, from the Universidad de Zaragosa, FFYL, 2016, "El maestro del arte del bonsái Luis Vallejo García-Mauriño y su colección en el Museo del Bonsaoacute;i de Alcobendas," includes 15 web references (out of 41) and 3 images (out of 42) from our website accessed between December 2015 and November 2016, plus mention of Designing Dwarfs and two of our ABS articles (out of some 137 other bibliographical references) providing background about the history of bonsai while focusing on the work of landscape designer and bonsai master Luis Vallejo.

* * * * *

On October 11, 2016, Tuttle Publishing printed Ann McClellan's Bonsai and Penjing, Ambassadors of Peace & Beauty, about the U.S. National Collection. The Bibliography includes "Baran, Robert J. 'Bonsai Book of Days,' www.phoenixbonsai.com" and the Websites listing includes "phoenixbonsai.com/, Phoenix Bonsai Society".

* * * * *

Mary Miller on September 21, 2016 provided the following answer on Quora to the question "How did bonsai start?":
"Robert Baran knows more about the history of bonsai than anyone I know:
History of Bonsai
If you want more than just history, Robert has pages and pages of graphics and stories from bonsai people to postage stamps
Magical Miniature Landscapes
Anyone interested in bonsai will find these pages a goldmine!"

* * * * *

On September 20, 2016 the History of Bonsai section of the general Wikipedia article on Bonsai was spun off as a separate article because of the former's size and detail, primarily due to our contributions.

* * * * *

Since at least June 2016 the Broward Bonsai Society of Florida has had an updated link to our Bonsai Book of Days listing on their home page.

* * * * *

Since at least April 2016, Artiste Entertainment Inc.'s website showcases Mr. Anthony "Tonet" Gedang's works. The page on bonsai includes some material on bonsai in general and styles, sourced from our Bonsaempire article What is bonsai." [Which original article is also reprinted in its entirety by Nicole Lona, Sept. 10, 2020, as "Definition And Meaning Of Bonsai Tree Meanings Include" and by ikea bonsai, April 12, 2021, with the introductory sentence of "FICUS MICROCARPA GINSENG Plant with pot, bonsai, assorted colors, Diameter of plant pot: 8 3/4" - IKEA bonsai bonsaiLog in" added to the article.]

* * * * *

In the 2015 book Qing Encounters: Artistic Exchanges between China and the West, our page "A Chronology of Dwarf Potted Trees in England" is listed on pg. 121 as one of two references cited in footnote 9 for the chapter "Nineteenth-Century Canton Gardens and the East-West Plant Trade" by Yuen Lai Winnie Chan.

* * * * *

Since at least the December 2015 issue of Bonsai News, the monthly newsletter of the Lake Charles Bonsai Society edited by this website's friend Alan Walker, (through the time of the COVID Pandemic) their detailed event calendar ended with this mention: "For an excellent listing of known recurring bonsai events, please visit http://www.magiminiland.org/Conventions.html."

* * * * *

Published on Nov 24, 2015 on Youtube, the notes for the short video "Different Interpretations of Mr Fudo" are excerpted from our Fudo material and conclude with the citation "Compiled by Robert J. Baran."

* * * * *

By the end of September 2015, a Persian-language recreation/entertainment website contained a reformatted (right-to-left) but unattributed version of the first section of our English language Conventions & Symposia.

* * * * *

The first issue of Bonsai Digital, Sept/Oct 2015, included our article "The Big Picture."

* * * * *

The July 20, 2015 TodayIFoundOut.com article "Bonsai!" includes the line "According to bonsai historian Robert Baran, by the late 18th century a show for 'traditional pine dwarf potted trees' was held annually in Kyoto where, 'Connoisseurs from five provinces and the neighboring areas would bring one or two plants each to the show in order to submit them to the visitors for ranking or judging.'"

* * * * *

On June 15, 2015, Wayne Schoech's blog BonsaiBark published a second article "Crème de la Bonsai" referencing our Kokufu pages (which is actually a reprint of an April 16, 2013 article we had not come across previously).

* * * * *

"Integral Ecopsychological Investigation of Bonsai Principles, Meaning and Healing" by Caroll Hermann (First Version 2013, Final Version June 2015, © 2015 University of Zululand, South Africa) was written as a Doctoral thesis by a clinical psychologist and former editor of the Bonsai in South Africa online magazine. Caroll was awarded her degree in May. Four of the citations in her research came from our website.

* * * * *

On March 24, 2015, Wayne Schoech's blog BonsaiBark published the article "A Good Time to Introduce Yourself to Phoenix Bonsai" which emphasized our Kokufu pages.

* * * * *

"The Ancestry of Aquascaping is in Bonsai" by Karen Pattist, March 10, 2015, for Koi Organization International uses the Wikipedia Penjing article to which we contributed much of the history portion.

* * * * *

Manuela Manda's paper "Miniature Landscapes" in Annals of the University of Craiova 20(56):207-213, January 2015, contains references to Some of what we don't know and Origins of Some of the Terms.

* * * * *

The January 2015 issue of the Austin Bonsai Society's "Bonsai Notebook" includes the Oct. 11, 2014 meeting minutes of the Lone Star Bonsai Federation. Under the section headed "Committee Reports" (pg. 5), can be found: "John Miller wrote the 'History' section of the [Houston convention] handbook. Mark [Bynum] is asking for a 3-5 member committee to update this section and to product [sic] a list of Presidents and convention sites. It was noted that Robert Baran of the Phoenix Bonsai Society maintains a section of their website on the history of bonsai. That website is at www.phoenixbonsai.com."

* * * * *

By the end of 2014, under the section headed "Japanese Americans in Arizona," our history Designing Dwarfs in the Desert is listed as one of the citations in the Selected Bibliography of the Japanese American National Museum.

* * * * *

A December 17, 2014 blog entry for "Bonsai Penjing & More," "Displaying Bonsai with a Companion Plant - Is It a 20th Century Revival of an Ancient Practice?," ends with this paragraph: "Perhaps some bonsai historian, such as Robert Baran of the Phoenix Bonsai Society, could give us insights into my question [Is displaying bonsai with a companion plant a long held and continuous tradition or a more recent, perhaps a 20th century revival of an ancient practice?]. Robert Baran has done a tremendous amount of research and has an excellent site on bonsai history, I admire his dedication and thoroughness in his research, all well documented with sources."

* * * * *

In the November 2014 edition of the blog "Ask Bonsai Tonight," "...can you tell me exactly what kokafuten [sic] means...?" there is a brief translation of the characters making up "kokufuten," followed by the line "Robert J. Baran provides up-to-date information about the exhibit at: http://www.phoenixbonsai.com/days/kokufuten.html."

* * * * *

The October 2014 edition, Vol. 29, Issue 10 of the Dai Ichi Bonsai Kai Gazette has a section (pp. 5-9) on "John Naka Reflections." The last page of this 12-page publication includes a short "Special thanks to" listing which includes "Robert J. Baran and the Phoenix Bonsai Society."

* * * * *

A September 2014 note "From the Editor" of the ABS Journal, Bob King, for the Vol. 48 Issue 3 which commemorates the contributions of late horticulturist John Yoshio Naka to the art of bonsai culture, on pg. 3 recommends our biography.

* * * * *

The Bosaldo Price website's three September listings for Masakuni Tools -- Root Cutter / Small, Long blade pruning shears, and Wire pliers small -- list the June 7, 2014 update of our Kyuzo Murata biography as one of the references.

* * * * *

(That same update is also somewhat puzzlingly listed as a related article for the Drama Spoiler Full website's article on Iker Bonsai Pots. A current search of our website shows the only reference to Iker can be found in our "About Bonsai Pots and Potters" piece, not the Murata bio.)

* * * * *

The mid-July 2014 application info for the 3rd National Juried Bonsai Pot Exhibition to be held June 12, 2015 to August 2, 2015 at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum, Washington DC under the topic of MEDIA & LIMITATIONS does include the following point:
"* have a minimum of one, 3/4" drain hole (2 or 3 are usually optimal) and 4-6 smaller, 1/8 to 1/4" wire tie-in holes spaced and towards the outer edge of the floor close to the walls. The Phoenix Bonsai Society site has information specific to bonsai pots and links to Bonsai potter's websites: http://www.phoenixbonsai.com/BigPicture/Pots.html." (Italicised in the original piece) Accessed 24 Aug, 2014.

* * * * *

A 15 Apr, 2014 article by Anja Eichler, "Griddle Incense Ass - or - Lost in Translation Thoughts about Cultural Identity in Jewelry Using the Example of Penjing in the Works of Shannon Guo, uses two comments about penjing from our "History of Bonsai" piece on BonsaiEmpire to explain the significance of three unique rings which depict plant and stone.

* * * * *

In the Winter 2014 (Vol. 19, Number 3) issue of Education in Asia, Daniel A. Métraux's article, "American Visitors to Meiji Japan," includes a picture of William Griffis on pg. 40. The given source is "Phoenixbonsai.com at http://tinyurl." -- which is actually https://www.magiminiland.org/1800Refs/Griffis.html.

* * * * *

And that BonsaiEmpire article was also referenced as the source for several quotes in the authorless The Australian Journey part I: text which was compiled for the 26th Association of Australian Bonsai Clubs Conference in May of 2013.

* * * * *

Our article "Hachi-No-Ki" was reprinted, with permission, in the June/July 2013 issue of the Bonsai in South Africa magazine, pp. 12-14.

* * * * *

In the otherwise undated 2013 San Francisco Chronicle article from the Real Estate section, "How to Prune African Sumac" by Michelle Miley, the Phoenix club's When to Prune article is listed as the second reference. Accessed 24 Feb, 2013.

* * * * *

A January 20, 2013 article in Herald Sun (Australia), Kew believed to be home of Australia's first bonsai trees" by Greg Gliddon, relates how Lindsay Farr of Hawthorn Bonsai Farm, is helping American bonsai historian Robert J. Baran research the Japanese art form in Australia. Specifically, because of an article on our website, "Lady McEacharn At Home," about the earliest known bonsai in Farr's area a century earlier.

* * * * *

A copy of our BonsaiEmpire "History of Bonsai" article appears with credit as the July 23, 2012 issue of the Indonesian Bonsai Semarang blog. [Also as LittleBonsai.com's History of Bonsai by Kitono_007, Nov. 16, 2021.]

* * * * *

A copy of our article Fei Jiang-Fang was posted on June 6, 2012 to the Gathering Wisdom blog, originally uncredited but now with proper citation, A Wonderful Legend: The Origin of the Bonzai Tree?

* * * * *

The January 4, 2012 Indonesian/English article, "The Adventure Of The Dutchseaman With VOC Ship To Indonesia,Formosa,Deshima Japan and Korea in 17th Century," includes a reference to "Philipp Seibold at http://www.users.qwest.net/~rjbphx/1800Refs/Siebold.html." [an early version].

* * * * *

By November 2011, the Iowa Bonsai Association's website page of links, included this listing:
"Bonsai Pots For the ultimate current summary of what there is to know and what you should know about bonsai pottery, including finding a good source and selecting the right pot, see the page:
ABOUT BONSAI POTS AND POTTERS (www.phoenixbonsai.com/BigPicture/Pots.html), which is a page within the ever growing, metastasizing [sic] bonsai web monster noted above -- Magical Miniature Landscapes (www.phoenixbonsai.com/BonsaiHistory.html)."

* * * * *

Part 14 of John Romano's series on Shohin in International Bonsai magazine, 2011/No. 3, pp. 24-27, "History of Shohin Bonsai" ends with the paragraph "Special thanks to Robert Baran, Thomas and Hiromi Elias and Asunu Fukano for their time in providing information. Robert Baran's website www.phoenixbonsai.com 'Magical Miniature Kingdom [sic]: History of Bonsai and Related Arts.'"

* * * * *

An August 2011 revision of a paper originally done in the Spring of 1986 by Aaron H. Caplan lists our article -- now http://www.magiminiland.org/1800Refs/Dunn.html -- on the second page "Note on Reformatting" as one of four modern alternative sources of information about Nathan Dunn.

* * * * *

The June 21, 2011 printing of WRA Species Report - Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project has a nice summary of a wide range of info about Portulacaria afra, including two citations to our monograph. (It is not known how many of the other references in this piece contain mention of us...)

* * * * *

A March 5, 2011 article in French on the "History of Satsuki" by Michel Otto from the Bonsaï & Notes website lists our work as one of the sources.

* * * * *

In Issue 181 of "The Interpreter" (dated March 1, 2011 but issued earlier) newsletter of The US Navy Japanese/Oriental Language School Archival Project, the otherwise undated 2013 San Francisco Chronicle, pg. 4 contains the article "A JLO & Bonsai Gardens." The section from the Murata bio mentioning Leo R. Bell is reproduced along with the image from Murata's grandson of the visitor's log Bell signed -- PLUS a close-up of Bell from his wedding photo a few years earlier.

* * * * *

On October 1, 2010, the Bonsai Basho online Bonsai marketplace website reprinted our John Naka biography as Part I and Part II (on October 7), with a link to our home page given.

* * * * *

On September 20, 2010, Lindsay Farr in the Ausbonsai.com forum stated that "Robert J. Baran's comprehensive Bonsai History is the online bonsai project that most inspires me. It was Robert J. Baran's work that inspired my online WorldOfBonsai video series."

* * * * *

The June 25, 2010 issue of Bonsai Dominicano includes a non-cited Spanish language translation about "Fudo" from our Kyuzo Murata article.
(A Turkish translation of most of the "Fudo" section without citation was published on December 1, 2012 on the agaclar.net Forum.)
(A Croatian translation of the "Fudo" section with citation was published on September 24, 2013 on the Bonsai Zen website.)

* * * * *

The story of Leo Ball and John Mercier is relayed referenced with footnote 116 "'Kyuzo Murata: The Father of Modern Bonsai' http://www.users.qwest.net/~rjbphx/Kmurata.html [our first version], copy of article found at Brooklyn Botantic Garden library collection, Brooklyn, New York." for "Shibui : Japan chic and post World War II American modernism" by Meghan McLaughlin Warner, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in History in the Graduate College of The University of Iowa, Spring 2010.

* * * * *

The March 26, 2010 entry about the Kokofu Bonsai-Ten by Wayne Schoech for Bonsaibark.com used material from our article and includes the following comment:
"Phoenix Bonsai has one of the very best bonsai sites around. Somebody has been putting a lot of energy into it for a long time, and it shows. Check it out."

* * * * *

The November/December 2009 issue of East Rand Bonsai Kai's Newsletter, pp. 2-3 includes three excerpts from our November and December Book of Days listings.

* * * * *

An Oct. 22, 2009 posting on Sandy Wong's Happy Bonsai web journal mentions our stamp pages.

* * * * *

On the back page of the Spring 2009 issue of Wired, The Quarterly Magazine of the Association of Australian Bonsai Clubs Ltd in an ad for Lindsay Farr's World of Bonsai Video Seris 1 DVDs, one of the five blurbs listed from the "world bonsai community" is "Great video...this is going to be BIG" by Robert J. Baran, Bonsai historian, Phoenix, Arizona [sic].

* * * * *

Prior to Sept. 22, 2009, an Italian site reproduced one of our Bonsai Book pages without attribution.

* * * * *

A page and a half review of some of the wonders of our web site can be found in the July/August 2009 issue of Golden States Bonsai Federation's Golden Statements, pp. 15-16, with eight links to and six graphics from the web site.

* * * * *

The May 7, 2009 blog entry "Incense, 113 B.C." referenced an old version of our Boshanlu article for further information.

* * * * *

Seven footnotes, on pages 12-15, in the Asian Research Institute Working Paper Series No. 111, April 2009, "A Teahouse in the Gilded Age: The Story of the Georgian Court University (GCU) Meiji Teahouse" by Lim Tai Wei, reference "The State of Horticulture in Britain, With an Eye to Japanese Gardening" section of our Horticulture In Britain and The Japan-British Exhibition of 1910 article. (That article was accessed 1 Oct 2007 for the paper.)

* * * * *

The December 2008 Plant of the Month by Arthur Lee Jacobson was the Elephant Food. A line in the article reads: "For far more information than I provide above, here is a link to Robert J. Baran's webpage all about this species: (www.phoenixbonsai.com/Portulacaria.html)."

* * * * *

Jessika Toothman's article What's the difference between bonsai and topiary? for the website Howthingswork? on 10/10/2008 referenced our "The Big Picture: A Summary of the History of Magical Miniature Landscapes" page.

* * * * *

For the sidebox (towards the bottom of the page) "An American Bonsai Master" to Sara Elliott's article How bonsai works for the website Howthingswork? on 09/08/2008 our "John Yoshio Naka" page was referenced.

* * * * *

The 20th episode of Lindsay Farr's WorldofBonsai, Series 1, includes the subtitle "use the comprehensive bonsai history at www.phoenixbonsai.com" about 3/4 of the way through when Lindsay is speculating on the origins of bonsai.

* * * * *

Although our Portulacaria monograph is correctly cited in the List of References on pg. 194 of Hugh T. W. Tan and Giam Xingli's 2008 Plant Magic, Auspicious and Inauspicious Plants from Around the World (Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited) for information on the miniature jade plant, for the caption on page 50 and text on pg. 51 in the "Crassula ovata" article, miniature jade is incorrectly referred to as Portulaca [sic] afra.

* * * * *

In an interesting roundabout, the brief biography for Richard Gordon Smith in the new edition of his Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan, republished by Forgotten Books in 2008, pp. vii-viii, is credited to phoenixbonsai.com. Our info, of course, was from Gordon Smith's late published diaries, as found here.

* * * * *

In June, 2008 a Thesis in the Field of History for the Degree of Master of Liberal Arts in Extension Studies through Harvard University was presented by Katherine Paige Farrington. "Seeing Ghosts in Late Eighteenth-Century China in Luo Pin's 1766 Guiqu tu (Ghost Realm Amusements) Scroll includes Footnote 46, "See Li Dou Yangzhou Huafang Lu (Chronicle of the Painted Barges of Yangzhou), 1795. Two excerpts concerning Li Dou's important book on Yangzhou are included below for the purpose of providing background information. They can be found at the website: http://www.phoenixbonsai.com/Books/pre1800.html." Footnote 180 also cites this page, which should actually be pre1800b.html.

* * * * *

Our Paintings page(s) was named "Bonsai Site of the Month -- March 2008" (towards the bottom of the page) by the Wirral Bonsai Society (Birkenhead, Merseyside, UK), "Click on the link above for a journey into the visual history of bonsai pictures - as depicted in scrolls, woodblock prints and paintings."

* * * * *

In the February 2008 edition of Estonian Nature, there is an article by Heldur Sander, Jaapani taimede avastuslugu (A story of the discovery of Japanese plants). Footnote 3 is "'Dwarf Trees' from George Meister's. Der Orientalisch-Indianische Kunst und Lust-Gärtner: http://www.phoenixbonsai.com/pre1800Refs/Meister.html."

* * * * *

The August 2007 edition of the Ann Arbor Bonsai Society newsletter page 9 includes an article by Mike Simmons, "Bonsai Notables on the Internet," about bonsai stamps, of course, referencing our pages.

* * * * *

Less a kudo than a July 22, 2007 professional listing [not made by us and unfortunately no longer extant] with the Arts and Humanities service of Intute which offered an easy-to-use and powerful tool for discovering the best Internet resources for education and research in Creative Arts and Humanities.

* * * * *

For her May 2007 project in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts Degree in Broadcast Journalism, Gabrielle Michelle Brick's Barbed Wire and Beauty: A History of Bonsai in Southern California used our John Naka biography as one of her information sources.

The Coconino Institute of Technology (CIT) is a school within a school at Coconino High School in Flagstaff, AZ. Its American Gardening Tour Virtual Field Trip begins with the Phoenix Bonsai Society.

* * * * *

The Chattanooga State Technical Community College uses us as an example for correct American Psychological Association style citation for World Wide Web sites, http://library.chattanoogastate.edu/research/apawebexamples.pdf.

* * * * *

See also this Internet Bonsai Club exchange from Jan. 16, 2007 about the historical research on our web site.

* * * * *

See this Bonsai Fachforum posting on 12/06/2006 by Gunter Lind, who responds to a previous post about his site being the most extensive regarding the history of bonsai. He defers to our website having "the largest collection" ("Die mit Abstand umfangreichste Sammlung") [I was fortunate enough to be able to correspond with Gunther between June 2006 and February 2007 -- he died that next April.]

* * * * *

The Historical dictionary of Japanese traditional theatre by Samuel L. Leiter (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2006), lists our Hachi-No-Ki page on pg. 533 of its Bibliography.

* * * * *

In June 2006, the Art of Bonsai Website put up a copy of our article "Pen, The Origins of the Shallow Tray" (reproduced with permission) for which there is a forum for additional comments.

* * * * *

"Visiting your website (phoenixbonsai.com) is like dipping a toe in a deep pool and wondering at its depth."
Chris Cochrane, in post to Internet Bonsai Club, December 23, 2005

* * * * *

"Magical Miniature Landscapes: The Comprehensive History of Bonsai, at: http://www.phoenixbonsai.com/BonsaiHistory.html Unlike most grandly titled projects like this, Baran's work lives up to the billing."
Alan Walker, former BCI president, in post to Internet Bonsai Club, December 15, 2005.

(In May 2007 he would graciously send us a CD containing over 2,000 images of teachers and artists Alan had collected at conventions and workshops over the years. Some of these pictures would then be used on the website, especially in the Bonsai Book of Days project.)

* * * * *

"Collecting Team of Tahei Suzuki and His Brother Fukuji," Chapter V of "The Shimpaku Juniper: Its Secret History," World Bonsai Friendship Federation, http://web.archive.org/web/20080222214532/www.bonsai-wbff.org/shimpaku/main.shtml, ends with a footnote concerning the famous shimpaku "Fudo," and refers readers to more information at www.phoenixbonsai.com/KMurata.html.
(This article was also reprinted by late 2012 as one piece in German on the Bonsai Fachforum site, in 2013 as one piece in English on the Nebari Bonsai weblog, in late 2014 by the Alabama Bonsai Society, and without pictures on the Absolute Bonsai website by 2008.)

* * * * *

Our article on Kyogen was retrieved on 2/21/2003 and listed in pg. 106 of the Bibliography of the article by Gary B. White, received November 17, 2005 at Gifu Shotoku Gakuen University, Contrast in Comedies: Japanese Kyogen and Italian Commedia Dell'Arte.

* * * * *

In responding to my post to rec.arts.bonsai about a new page on Expositions, Jim Lewis in an August 26, 2005 post states that:
"And I further refer you to Robert's full exposition on the History of Bonsai. It represents an amazing amount of work and dedication on his part. Go here: http://www.phoenixbonsai.com/BonsaiHistory.html
"I truly hope that this work exists somewhere that is more permanent than a web page. It would be a shame if some electronic disturbance (or some other disaster) caused this work to vanish.
"I know better than to assume it would make a salable book -- or at least a money-making book -- but it would be nice if it had a permanent home like that.
"Well done, Robert! And thanks to the Phoenix Bonsai Society for hosting it."

* * * * *

By March 15, 2005, the Rev. Craig L. Cowing's year-old article "A Little Spot Enclosed by Grace: A Biblical Spirituality of Bonsai" on the WBFF website had been updated to include several more footnotes, leading with "1 The Phoenix Bonsai Society has on their website a large number of articles chronicling the history of bonsai in the West at http://www.phoenixbonsai.com/Pre1945Biblio.html."

* * * * *

"Your biography ( http://www.phoenixbonsai.com/KMurata.html ) will be the most helpful source of information for the better understanding of Kyuzo. I have included the link. http://www.iris.dti.ne.jp/~kyukaen/kyukaen/kyukaen-e.htm
With best regards. Kyuka-en Yukio MURATA"
Personal correspondence of Kyuzo Murata's grandson with RJB, January 7, 2005

* * * * *

Our Portulacaria mongraph was one of the many citations used in Pamela Vass Thesis' December 2004 University of London Doctoral Thesis "Plant Diversity and Spatial Discontinuities of the Albany Centre in the south-eastern Cape, South Africa," http://www.ambiotek.com/theses/pam_vass_thesis_final.pdf, pp. 168, 217.

* * * * *

The first in-print reference to an article from the site was a sidebar on pg. 43 in Mary C. Miller's "Portulacaria afra, A Succulent In Tree Form," pp. 39-44 in the 2004-4 issue of Bonsai Today magazine, #68. Our Portulacaria article was mentioned with its old users.uswest.net address.

* * * * *

Tasker, Georgia "Bonsai Enthusiasts Continue a 2,000 Year Old Tradition," St. Lewis Post-Dispatch, Oct. 31, 2002, pg. 101, is apparently a re-write of the below article published earlier in the month.

* * * * *

Tasker, Georgia "Bonsai! Passionate, near-obsessive devotion drives practioners of this ancient art," The Miami Herald, Herald.com, Oct. 13, 2002, cites our website. Used material from The Big Picture page.

* * * * *

A review of Craig's book at
http://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/The%20Bonsai%20School%20Review.html includes "Parts One and Two of The Bonsai School deals [sic] with the basics of bonsai containing sound horticultural advice for both the novice and more experienced enthusiast alike. It also contains what has to be the most most comprehensive account of Bonsai through history I have seen by Robert J. Baran."

* * * * *

"When I visited your excellent site I was initially interested in the John Naka section. However, I read further and realised that your research into the history of Bonsai was the finest that I have ever read. I am in the midst of writing a book on Bonsai, called Bonsai School, and I would like to enquire if you would allow me to use extracts from the historical sections to show the development of Bonsai in the Far East...
"I do hope that you are able to assist me as, quite honestly, I now realise that anything I say about the historical aspects of Bonsai in Japan would simply be inadequate without your wonderful references."

Craig Coussins, Scottish bonsai master and author, www.bonsaiinformation.co.uk, in e-mail to RJB, November 21, 2001, for his book to be released Nov. 2002

And so, pp. 26-36 of The Bonsai School are based on ChineseSchools and pp. 37-39 are based on The Big Picture.

Craig's site includes a copy of the Chinese Schools page at http://www.bonsaiinformation.com/Penjing.htm

* * * * *

My article on "America Peeks at Bonsai" was listed in pg. 231 of the Bibliography of the October 2001 thesis by Hayley Wilson, in partial fulfillment of a Master of Arts Degree in The Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, The Practice and Meaning of Bonsai, Ikebana, and Tea in Montreal and Abroad: A Case Study of the Processes of Cultural Globalization.

* * * * *

"The Art and History of Bonsai" by Meagan Gates, Central Oregon Community College, Winter 2001, Humanities 201, Culture(s) & Literature(s) of Asia included a review of this web site.

* * * * *

"Just read your article on Portulacaria, all I can say is WOW."
James J. Smith, Vero Beach, FL, Portulacaria bonsai expert, in e-mail to RJB, August 20, 2000. (As Jim supplied photographs and information for the above 2004-4 Bonsai Today magazine article, he might have seen the web article during the story's writing.)

* * * * *

In the April 2000 issue of the University of Arizona, Yavapai County Cooperative Extension, Yavapai Gardens Master Gardener Newsletter, the first four pages are about Bonsai, enthusiastically referencing us (the old URL, of course, in this early Kudo).

* * * * *

"I have just discovered your Website and have marvelled at the amount of information you have placed within. The teaching sections, comprehensive history pages and book lists I think are very useful for others so I have linked to them from my History and How-to pages on my website - The Bonsai in Asia Guide Book - online at http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Palace/7574/..."
John Oldland, Perth, Western Australia, in e-mail to RJB, January 23, 2000

* * * * *

"Bonsai in Period: Tray Plantings in Medieval Japan" by Lady Tsukime extensively cites this web site, although she refers to the older links to some of the pages.

* * * * *

The directory Suite101.com ("Real People Helping Real People") for the topic of Bonsai has 14 web sites chosen by David J. Brock Number 11 is www.phoenixbonsai.com : "I include this website because of its outstanding pages devoted to the history of bonsai. This website is a great reference for understanding the history and development of bonsai."

* * * * *

Seasonal Care Information pages ( Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Spring ) for www.bonsaisite.com is based on the unique-to-Phoenix Seasonal Care Information.

* * * * *

Cowing, Rev. Craig L. "A Little Spot Enclosed by Grace: A Biblical Spirituality of Bonsai," World Bonsai Friendship Federation, http://www.bonsai-wbff.org/enclosedbygrace.shtml, cites our website for history of bonsai in the west. Used material from Pre1945 Bibliography page.

* * * * *

The website Dao House...Later Daoist History includes a link to Fei Jiang-fang: "Short essay by Robert J. Baran (Phoenix) tells the story of one of the immortal "Gourd Elders" and his magical miniature world."