Attend a special after Museum hours event in celebration of World Bonsai Day! Enjoy tours, music, sake tastings, bento-boxes and a film screening of BICENTENNIAL BONSAI: EMISSARIES OF PEACE followed by a Q&A with filmmakers. Registration required.

A film by Paul Awad and Kathryn O’Sullivan
35 min | 2020 | Washington, DC Premier

If more people did bonsai, there would be more peace in the world.
-Saburo Kato (1915–2008), bonsai master

In 1975, only thirty years after the United States and Japan had been at war, Japan gave 53 priceless bonsai to the United States in celebration of the U.S. Bicentennial. Some bonsai were several hundred years old. One had remarkably survived the bombing of Hiroshima. Bicentennial Bonsai: Emissaries of Peace chronicles this historic gift, includes rare interviews and archival footage, and reveals how we can rediscover our shared humanity and establish a path toward healing and world peace. Paul Awad and Kathryn O’Sullivan are a husband-and-wife filmmaking team based in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area.

EVENING’S SCHEDULE
4:30 – gates to the Bonsai Museum open for after-hours tours*
5:00 – koto music, free sake tastings, and pre-ordered bento boxes in the museum
6:00 – movie screening in the auditorium followed by Q&A with filmmakers

Registration
General Admission: $12.50
NBF, FONA, JASWDC members**: $10
Bento Box (vegan or chicken) pre-order: $20

**Type your discount code into the “Coupon Code” box on the last page of registration and hit “Apply” to see the discount when you check out. NBF, FONA, and JASWDC will be sending discount code information to their members. Contact your organization if you have any questions.

REGISTRATION CLOSES MAY 10

*Due to another event happening at the Arboretum this evening, we recommend you arrive early to find parking.

National Bonsai & Penjing Museum

The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum is pleased to participate in the 13th Annual World Bonsai Day, created by the World Bonsai Friendship Federation (WBFF). This event honors the memory of Mr. Saburo Kato, a bonsai master and founder of WBFF, who believed that bonsai has the power to unite people by acting as a bridge to international friendship and peace.

The day’s activities will include something for everyone and will happen both in-person at the Museum and online at bonsai-nbf.org/wbd-2023.

IN-PERSON MUSEUM EVENTS

DOCENT-LED TOUR | 10 am - 4 pm

Join a free, docent-led tour of the Museum throughout the day. No registration required. Free to the public.

CHILDREN’S ACTIVITIES | 10 am - 12 pm & 1 pm - 3 pm

There will be a children's activity table located in the Bonsai Museum’s Exhibit Gallery. It is a fun way for children to engage in and learn about Japanese culture and botany. Children and interested adults will have the opportunity to color Japanese themed coloring pages such as koi, pagodas, fans, and ladies in kimonos; stamp leaves onto drawings of bonsai; and try their hands at a variety of origami animals and shapes, such as frogs, cranes, flowers, stars, and boxes. No registration required. Come and go as you’d like within the scheduled times. Free to the public.

CHRYSANTHEMUM BONSAI WORKSHOP | 1 pm - 4 pm

A fee-based series of workshops on chrysanthemum bonsai begins on this day. Learn more here about that series.

FILM SCREENING: BICENTENNIAL BONSAI: EMISSARIES OF PEACE | 4:30 pm - 8 pm
Attend a special after Museum hours event! Enjoy tours, music, sake tastings, bento-boxes and a film screening of BICENTENNIAL BONSAI: EMISSARIES OF PEACE followed by a Q&A with filmmakers. Registration required. More info here.

Every year, we celebrate World Bonsai Day, a global celebration of the art of bonsai. This year is no exception. Please visit our homepage on May 9 to explore the WORLD BONSAI DAY HOMEPAGE TAKEOVER - a special presentation of videos, blogs, interviews and more that we’ll be curating for you! Plus, join the conversation on social media by following #WorldBonsaiDay. Start using the hashtag now and we may highlight it on our homepage. Snap photos of your collection at home, photos from when you visited the museum, other collections, etc. We can’t wait to celebrate bonsai with the world!