Special Bonsai Auction
July 9, 2022
Saturday 11 AM – 4 PM
located at the Lakeside Park Garden Center
666 Bellevue Ave., Oakland, California
IT IS ALMOST HERE. We hope you can come to this special event. I have been asked if we are publishing a catalogue for this auction: we cannot do a catalogue for this event. There is too much material that is just arriving.
Dennis and Joanne Makishima have donated their entire personal bonsai collection and related materials. Some 40 years of accumulation in bonsai history. This is the largest donation ever of bonsai trees and related materials to the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt, Oakland, California. This auction will feature legacy pines and more from the mid-1950’s to early 1960’s, significant to the Japanese American bonsai pioneers – Iseyama Furusawa, Mas Imazumi, Jimmy Inadomi, Toshio Saburomaru, Peter Sugawara, Johnny Uchida, and others. Most Japanese American hobbyists started their bonsai from seed in the 1950’s after release from WWII imprisonment, making this an extraordinary, one of a kind auction. Sale following immediately after auction.
Dennis took his first bonsai lesson in 1982. He had the wonderful opportunity to learn from the Japanese American pioneers in California. Their teachings instilled the styling and caring for trees with the traditions and philosophy of the Japanese living bonsai art form.
The first aesthetic pruning class at the Oakland’s Merritt College Landscape Horticulture Department was a bonsai basics class taught by Dennis on December 12, 1986.
Dennis started an aesthetic pruning course at Merritt College which led to the formation of the Aesthetic Pruning Club in 1987.
The personal bonsai collection of Dennis grew over the years to more than 500 trees, consisting of legacy pines, maples, junipers, and California yamadori native trees.
Dennis served an instrumental role for creating the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt, which opened its gates in November 1999.
Dennis served as president of the Golden State Bonsai Federation (GSBF) from 2002 to 2003.
Dennis credited for his contribution to the Sunset Bonsai book in 2003.
Join us on Saturday, July 9th for a rare opportunity to bid on and purchase bonsai trees from the Dennis and Joanne Makishima collection.
- Preview Auction – Vista Room at 11:00 AM
- Welcome – Vista Room at 12:00 PM
- Live Auction – Vista Room at 12:15 PM
All proceeds from this fundraiser will go to support the newly created Dennis and Joanne Makishima Curator Fund.