Goshin facts for kids
Goshin (Japanese: 護神, meaning "protector of the spirit") is a very famous bonsai tree. It was created by a master artist named John Y. Naka. This special bonsai is actually a "forest" made up of eleven Foemina junipers. These are a type of evergreen tree called Juniperus chinensis 'Foemina'. John Naka started training the first of these trees in 1948.
In 1984, Naka gave Goshin to the National Bonsai Foundation. It has been on display at the United States National Arboretum ever since. Each of the eleven trees in Goshin represents one of Naka's grandchildren.
How Goshin Was Created
John Naka began working on the first two trees for Goshin in 1948. He arranged them to look like two trees growing together. In 1953, he shaped another Foemina juniper during a bonsai class. He also got a taller tree, which would become the main, tallest tree in Goshin. He planted it in the ground and slowly shaped it. This tree was ready to be shown by 1960.
Goshin first started to look like a forest around 1964. Naka was inspired by a forest of Cryptomeria japonica trees near a shrine in Japan. He first put together four of his developed trees into one group. This group was about 4-foot-tall (1.2 m). Soon, he added three more trees, making it a seven-tree forest bonsai.
Naka also had to change the pot to make sure water could drain well. If the water didn't drain, some trees would die. At that time, Naka had seven grandchildren, and each tree represented one of them. Other bonsai artists encouraged him to name his creation. He chose "Goshin," which means "protector of the spirit," because of the forest shrine that inspired him. By 1973, Naka had eleven grandchildren, so he added more trees to Goshin to match.
Goshin's Journey and Fame
In 1984, Goshin was shown at the Philadelphia Flower Show in March. About 250,000 people saw it there! After the show, Naka donated Goshin to the National Bonsai Foundation. He had helped start this foundation in 1976. Goshin was then moved to the new North American Pavilion at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum. This museum is located at the United States National Arboretum in Washington, D.C.. The pavilion was even named in Naka's honor.
Since 1984, Goshin has been featured on the covers of many famous bonsai magazines. It is now one of the most recognized bonsai trees in the world.
John Naka often returned to Washington to check on Goshin and help with its care. He did a lot of work on it in 1999. Later that year, he created another forest bonsai, which is known as Goshin Two. When Naka passed away in 2004, a French website published a cartoon that said: "John Naka has gone. A whisper of astonishment wanders in between the branches of Goshin." This shows how important Goshin was to him and to the world of bonsai.
See also
In Spanish: Goshin para niños
