[Strings and Japanese koto music] [Fountain water bubbling and birds chirping] [Applause] [Applause] [Strings music] [Sirens and gunfire] NARRATOR: The 1970's is a turbulent time in United States history.

Protests, political scandal, and the Vietnam War threaten to rip the country apart.

But it's also a time of forgiveness.

[Strings music] In 1976, over thirty years have passed since the United States and Japan have been at war.

In a gesture of peace and in celebration of the United States Bicentennial, Japan gives the U.S. a gift of fifty-three of its most treasured bonsai and in doing so the enduring gift of friendship.

PRESIDENT RICHARD M. NIXON: As all of you know, we're gathered in this historic house for an opportunity that comes to a people once in a century, the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the United States which will take place in 1976.

DR. RICHARD T. OLSEN: There was a call to say how was the United States going to celebrate the Bicentennial and so people had within the government and agencies and departments had the opportunity to uh, to sort of suggest ideas and so John Creech suggested here is a beautiful art form, here's something to honor the Bicentennial.

F. CHASE ROSADE: The gift it was uh, certainly one that maybe a lot of people would not have thought of, but Dr. Creech when he was putting this together wanted something that represented Japan, something that would be a horticultural gift uh, that would be remembered and would have the longevity that the cherry blossoms have had.

ANN MCCLELLAN: He remembered that the gift of the cherry blossom trees in 1912 to the city of Washington from the city of Tokyo was something that was transformative.

The blooming of the trees, the festival that came with them, I mean it was one of the things that's really made Washington a tourist destination for now over a hundred years.

BOB DRECHSLER: The main reason he got this to happen was the fact that he was a very delightful person to be around.

He's one of these people that walked in the room and he filled the room, you know type thing and so, he was a plant explorer and he loved the Japanese.

FELIX LAUGHLIN: He went to his friends in Japan who he used to collect with, his Japanese friends, and said wouldn't it be great if you guys did this, you know, gave these trees, gave some of your bonsai and sort of show this relationship.

[Soft string music] ANN MCCLELLAN: Bonsai is the art of miniaturizing trees.

It was one of the art forms that made its way from China to Japan in the seventh or eighth century along with things like calligraphy, Zen Buddhism, the tea ceremony, and like many of those art forms they were refined and adopted by the Japanese and made their own really.

KAICHI ITO: In ancient age, we respected and feared all the giant trees in the forest.

We wanted to watch the big trees every day, but it was- it was impossible.

We had to... climb the mountain.

[Laughs] So, we brought small, old trees to our house and enjoyed every day.

[Koto music] [Koto and string music] [Koto and strings music] [Birds singing] NARRATOR: John Creech would find a champion of the Bicentennial gift in friend and third generation bonsai master, Saburo Kato.

[Soft guitar music] JACK SUSTIC: I know that when- in the beginning there was some reluctance to do it, and uh, the group like Mr. Kato was there and a few other people that assured them that they would be well taken care of.

NARRATOR: With Saburo Kato's assurance that the trees would be well cared for at the National Arboretum, the Nippon Bonsai Association approved the Bicentennial gift.

The gift would consist of fifty of Japan's best bonsai, one for each of the American states, and would help the people of the United States learn about and better appreciate nature and the art of bonsai.

FELIX LAUGHLIN: Saburo Kato was a philosopher and a poet and much more than a bonsai artist.

JACK SUSTIC: He believed that if everybody in the world did bonsai there would be less war, there would be more peace, and more kinder people in the world.

So, he kind of made it his life's work to spread the word of bonsai.

[Soft guitar music] FELIX LAUGHLIN: He really believed that bonsai could bring peace to the world.

And you say that, and you say that's ridiculous... but, you know, it's possible.

So, I believe it.

[Melancholy music] [Thunderous crash of bombs dropping] NARRATOR: From 1939 to 1945 the world is at war.

On December 7, 1941, Japan attacks the United States Navy fleet at Pearl Harbor.

Over the next three years, the United States and its Allies gain ground in the Pacific theater, and in the spring of 1945 Japan's defeat appears imminent.

On July 26, 1945, the United States calls for Japan's unconditional surrender.

Japan refuses.

Less than two weeks later, the United States drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

NEWSCASTER: But it took only one B29, the Enola Gay, to close that chapter in human history.

[Sound of large explosion] [Koto music] FELIX LAUGHLIN: They were still recovering from the War for sure.

You know it's something that was so important I think to them to tell the American people we forgive you for the bombing of Hiroshima, we're sorry for the war.

I mean it said a lot and the Yamaki pine really represents the essence of how the Japanese felt about the gift.

[String music] JACK SUSTIC: When you think of the Yamaki pine that has been a bonsai since 1625, they take daily care.

Somebody has attended to that tree every day since 1625, monitored its health, its water, everything.

FELIX LAUGHLIN: I guess it was ten years ago, I can't remember exactly, but the two grandsons of Masaru Yamaki landed at Dulles Airport, they came out here, and they asked to see their grandfather's tree.

And they walked over to the Yamaki pine, and the two grandsons proceeded to tell about how it had survived the bombing of Hiroshima.

And it just- it just completely blew our minds.

We knew nothing about that.

NEWSCASTER: The bomb was aimed to explode above zero point... [Sound of explosion] A spot in the city at the junction of the Motoyasu and Ota rivers.

What's left of the commercial museum, within two tenths of a mile of zero point, also gives indication of the tremendous push of the explosion.

The downward force of the blast turned the roof of the commercial museum into a reservoir.

[Piercing metallic sounding music] [Piercing desolate music] [Sound of whistling wind] [Cello music] FELIX LAUGHLIN: I mean it showed how Yamaki had given something that had been in his family for generations, had been behind a wall when the bomb was dropped at Hiroshima, within two miles of the bomb blast, and survived, and had given this to us without telling us anything about that.

So, making it all the more extraordinary.

[Sounds of birds singing] [Soft string music] DR. PETER KUZNICK: The fact that it came from the people of Japan to the people of the United States was almost a way to bypass tension between the governments during this time.

Because it was the people of Japan who fought the people of the United States during the War.

It was the people of Japan who were demonstrating in the streets against the U.S. war in Vietnam.

The fact that the people of Japan were reaching out to the people of the United States represented something symbolically significant at the time, a gesture of friendship, a gesture of peace, a gesture of building the kind of ties that allow for a different kind of political and economic relations, an easing of tension.

KAICHI ITO: "Wabi" is uh, simplicity... and uh, "sabi" is oldness.

In bonsai, aging is very important.

BOB DRECHSLER: The Nippon Bonsai Association would give fifty plants.

Well, as you know, it turned out that there was fifty-three because the Emperor came in and Prince Takamatsu and Princess Chichibu also gave a plant so there was three from the Imperial household.

[Flute music] ANN MCCLELLAN: The Emperor's choice of tree was a red pine.

This was a gift really from the Emperor's collection and very important to him.

The gift of a trident maple from Prince Takamatsu, and then Princess Chichibu's tree, a hemlock, was a wonderful expression of her gratitude.

She actually came to visit in 1976 and she saw her tree and there are photos of her beaming with it.

And the other thing that happened was she visited the Emperor's tree and there was a robin, in a nest, with babies, and it was seen as a wonderful, positive symbol.

It showed that the tree was happy enough to welcome a mother and her baby birds.

[Soft guitar music] DR. JOHN CREECH: Ambassador Hodgson, and honored guests, and my many many good Japanese friends who are members of the Nippon Bonsai Association, who are people who traveled with me many times in Japan over the last twenty years, I bring you greetings from the Secretary of Agriculture, I bring you greetings from the the growing numbers of bonsai specialists in the United States, and above all, I bring you my own personal greetings and my affection to the Japanese whom I have known and loved for so many years.

[Sound of applause] [Upbeat music] ANN MCCLELLAN: When he had the idea of asking Japan for bonsai as a Bicentennial gift, he had no idea what he was getting into.

He was not expecting to have a big gift.

He was just expecting to receive a few, and they ended up being fifty-three trees, and he didn't even know how big they were until he got to Japan and saw that they were huge and in some cases as tall as I am which is over five feet.

So, they negotiated a deal with Pan American Airlines to ship the trees and he had a budget of two thousand dollars plus some change, and it turned out it was going to require the rental of a 707 Pan Am freighter to fly them from Tokyo to San Francisco and then two planes, two DC8s, to fly from San Francisco to Washington.

And, so, Dr. Creech, you know, basically said with his credit card, 'okay nineteen thousand dollars for renting the plane.'

He wasn't sure if he wasn't going to lose his job over this.

Fortunately, you know, the powers that be were able to see that he didn't really have a choice and it all worked out.

DR. RICHARD OLSEN: I can't imagine that today, saying, calling up my superiors from Japan and saying 'oh, by the way, that shipment that was going to cost several thousand is now tens of thousands and we need to charter an entire plane to do it.'

He took full responsibility, and he pulled it off.

[Sustained string music] NARRATOR: In July 1976, Americans joyfully commemorate the country's 200th birthday.

A week later, at the United States National Arboretum, Americans and Japanese celebrate Japan's gift of bonsai and the dedication of the national collection.

[Cello music] FELIX LAUGHLIN: The gift that the Japanese gave us in 1976 certainly represented a coming together, um, the beginning of a friendship, and it was, really, it was that act that, it was like putting out their hand.

NARRATOR: On August 5th, 2019, the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum of the United States and the Bonsai Art Museum of Japan became sister museums at an official signing ceremony held in front of the Yamaki pine at the United States National Arboretum.

This partnership reflects the enduring legacy of the Bicentennial gift.

[String music] In the words of Dr. John Creech, "what began as a modest idea for having a small collection of bonsai at the National Arboretum, has resulted in the creation of The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum with over one hundred and fifty masterpiece bonsai and penjing in Japanese, Chinese, and American collections."

[Violin music] This gift has helped turn the art of bonsai from a mainly Japanese tradition into an international activity with bonsai artists throughout the world.

KAICHI ITO: Bonsai connect the generation, age, and connect people... And connect nation now.

[Swelling string score]