The famous bonsai forest that lives in Washington, D.C.
Goshin's creator died over 20 years ago but his remarkable work lives on with the precise directions he left behind.
The ancient art of bonsai may look deceptively simple, but its practice requires care, contemplation, and consistency over long periods of time—especially if you’re growing an entire miniature forest, like the famous living artifact known as Goshin (pronounced go-SHEEN).
This bonsai was started more than 70 years ago, when Japanese American bonsai artist John Naka cut the top off a mature juniper tree and planted it in a pot. Over the next two decades, he surrounded it with 10 more trees, one to honor each of his grandchildren. He named this miniature forest Goshin, which means “protector of the spirit” in Japanese.
Today Goshin is on display at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum, part of the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C., with the important distinction of being one of the world’s best known bonsai arrangements. Naka died in 2004 at the age of 89, but spent the last decades of his life teaching curators how to continue to care for the forest according to his vision.
“For a tree to be healthy, you have to let it grow out and gain strength,” says Michael James, curator at the museum. “But when you do that, it gets out of shape. It doesn’t look like a bonsai anymore, so then you have to cut it back.” That means no bonsai is ever truly finished. With proper attention, Goshin could live on for years.
While bonsai is a historic Japanese art form dating back centuries, early artists were likely inspired by the Chinese practice of penjing, which can be traced to the Han dynasty some 2,000 years ago. Penjing involves creating miniature potted landscapes that can include trees, rocks, water, human and animal figurines, and other features. But what sets bonsai arrangements apart is their sole focus on maintaining small trees with specific techniques for shaping that allow them to resemble much larger specimens.
Naka, who was born in Fort Lupton, Colorado, discovered the practice after he moved, at age eight, with his parents to their home country of Japan. There, his grandfather introduced him to the art of bonsai. Naka returned to Colorado in his 20s and eventually settled in Los Angeles, where he helped found the California Bonsai Society. In the decades that followed, he became known nationally and worldwide as both an artist and a teacher.
Naka gave Goshin to the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum in 1984. Today Goshin stands out among Naka’s bonsai designs because of how large its trees are—it stands nearly five feet at its tallest point—and how closely Naka was able to place them together. This is particularly difficult to do without overpruning the roots, which can cause the trees to wither and die.
“He would come every year and help the museum curators work on [Goshin],” James says about Naka’s dedication to teaching the art to others. “We’re trying to preserve it how he would have.”
