Past Luncheon report

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Luncheon Guest : Kunio Kobayashi, Bonsai artiste A Demonstration and Talk about Bonsai January , 2012
Bonsai master Kunio Kobayashi enraptured the audience at the January 18 Luncheon as he created a bonsai before our very eyes. While doing so, he also spoke about Bonsai technique and philosophy. Bonsai shows the inner beauty of the plant – the preciousness and longevity of life.
	He explained the basic 20 styles of Bonsai and three qualities that should be considered when making Bonsai which are individuality/idiosyncrasy, balance, and grace/elegance. Often adding humor to his talk, he noted that CWAJ members are good examples of grace and elegance! His love and dedication to the art of Bonsai shone throughout his presentation. Kobayashi-sensei travels overseas extensively and CWAJ is grateful he could be the January luncheon speaker for a perfect start to 2012.
A big thank you to CWAJ members Michiko Okubo and Akiko Nakagawa who contributed to making this luncheon such a satisfying experience - Michiko for her fantastic interpretation keeping up with Kobayashi-sensei’s speedy explanations while letting his sweet humor shine through and gracefully handling the many questions from the audience, and Akiko for her live video allowing all to get a good view of the master and his two assistants as they created the bonsai and following Kobayashi-sensei when he jumped over excitedly to the white board to illustrate another point about Bonsai technique or philosophy.
Kobayashi-sensei’s talk and exhibition at the January Luncheon was filmed for the TV show “Yume no Shokutaku (夢の食卓)” including interviews with CWAJ members and will be aired on Saturday, February 18 from 10:30 – 11:00 pm on BSFuji TV channel. So if you missed the January Luncheon, be sure to watch. And if you were one of the lucky ones who attended, tune in and you may see yourself on TV!