Bay Area interest in the ancient art of Japanese bonsai may have dwindled significantly since its first growth spurt post-WWII. But these days, the practice is being revived by a younger generation, and even, to our surprise, by San Francisco techies. Here, SF Bonsai Society president Eric Schrader tends to his bonsai during a group meeting in his Bernal Heights garage. (Photography by Joseph Jaafari)
To walk through the Japanese-styled wooden doors on the Northern inlet of Oakland’s Lake Merritt is to enter another world. The landscape is checkered with trees that are bent and wired to mimic what one might see in nature—that is, if everything in nature were just a few feet tall. This, the volunteer-run Bonsai Garden Lake Merritt (BGLM), is among the Bay Area’s few remaining places to celebrate the treasured ancient art form of Japanese bonsai. For the entire article, click here.