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- Fuku-Bonsai president &
- founder David Fukumoto
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- Introductory Workshop Package (IWP-8) the easiest and most successful way to "Create your first bonsai!"
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- Educational Combo Special to learn and to teach bonsai!
The Fuku-Bonsai Mission Statement & Philosophy is posted at www.fukubonsai.com/1a.html
THE PHOENIX FLIES!
WOW! WHAT A YEAR! It's been an extremely exciting and hectic year since the last FBnews! Here's a summary with links to reports and additional information:
DUPONT AGREES TO SETTLE FRAUD LITIGATION! In 1989 and 1990, Fuku-Bonsai sprayed defective Benlate fungicide that killed or stunted all plants that had been in training since 1973 at the Kurtistown nursery. Total losses exceeded $25 million! This crippled a once robust, thriving, innovative bonsai pioneer that built a major 17-acre Kona Fuku-Bonsai Center which opened in 1992. Surviving plants quickly sold out and we were forced into Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. DuPont agreed to settle the original product liability litigation. With creditors agreeing, our choice was to accept or be liquidated. We paid all creditors 100% + interest and emerged with very little and lost the Kona Fuku-Bonsai Center. Soon after, we learned that DuPont withheld and misrepresented evidence. We had a choice of returning the original settlement funds (which had been dispersed by the court) and retrying the entire product liability litigation, OR begin new litigation by suing for fraud. We sued for fraud and this link is a summary of the litigation that DuPont stretched out over 10 years. It's said to be the most flagrant case of corporate settlement fraud in the history of the United States judicial system. It illustrates the power of large corporations to delay, but in the end they were forced to settle.
REINVENTING FUKU-BONSAI. We closed the Kona Fuku-Bonsai Center and retrenched to Kurtistown shrinking from over 25 employees to just five and we struggled! We built a modest new Kurtistown Fuku-Bonsai Cultural Center so visitors from around the world could see the memorial bonsai donated to the non-profit Mid-Pacific Bonsai Foundation and our varied and innovative bonsai collection. Nursery contamination prevented the growing of our original Brassaia crop. We learned to grow a new Dwarf Schefflera crop that is superior for teaching bonsai and this has become the most successful gift bonsai for anyone who can grow houseplants! We began WWW.FUKUBONSAI.COM in 1999. Our second major specialty "The Amazing Hawaiian Micro-Losters!™" was introduced in 2004. A series of workshops were created culminating in the Introductory Workshop Package and Educational Combo specials! All of this was possible with a lot of effort on the part of the staff and a lot of support from the community, friends, associates, stockholders, and customers. Things slowly fell into place and we now have superior products! We begin expansion and major new directions! This report provides a preview to where we are going. You're invited to join us and be a part of our future!
- INTRODUCTORY WORKSHOP PACKAGE. Bonsai can be extremely complex. There are a huge number of plants that can be used and each plant has a different set of cultural practices and training techniques. So, if you want to learn bonsai, it's easy to be confused by well meaning authors who share their techniques that work for their trees in their situation BUT MAY NOT APPLY TO OTHER TREES IN OTHER SITUATIONS! We made it very easy for those who want to grow bonsai indoors because we only teach Dwarf Schefflera and supply the exact prepared bonsai stock described in our training materials! It's possible to create the necessary growing conditions and we only supply premium pre-trained plant material. Field trials:
- ● RON DAVIS & INTRODUCTORY WORKSHOP PACKAGE!
- ● KATHY ALMEIDA & INTRODUCTORY WORKSHOP PACKAGE!
FUKU-BONSAI'S EDUCATIONAL COMBO SPECIAL! The objective was to create the easiest way to learn and teach bonsai and this is "THE BONSAI EDUCATIONAL HOLY GRAIL!" 45 years after the Fukumotos began bonsai, they achieved their objective with a bonsai nursery and staff to produce both quality and quantity for group bonsai workshops throughout the entire United States! You are encouraged to teach "CREATE YOUR FIRST BONSAI!" classes. It's easy and successful with our Introductory Workshop Package and our True Indoor Bonsai Workshop Handbook!
FUKU-BONSAI'S CHRISTMAS 2007 MIX-AND-MATCH SPECIAL! We repeat our most popular annual special! Five $24.95 item for just $99.95 INCLUDING FREE SHIPPING! Great for gifts but supplies are limited so reserve now! This year we've included the new Introductory Workshop Package as one of the selections.
- (May 24, 1913 - August 5, 2007) The Hawaii bonsai community suffered a huge loss with the passing of Mama Kaneshiro. Although most knew her for being in Papa's shadow, those of us privileged to have known her know that she was the gracious hostess that helped to set the high standards of friendships and sharing that the Hawaii Bonsai Association came to be known for.
- Book review & recommendation:
- Very few bonsai books are written by those who created large personal collections over a 50-year period. The most notable were books by John Yoshio Naka, Saburo Kato, and Yee-Su Wu. Each of these masters had something original to say. Add to this short list the recently published book by Hawaii's bonsai-penjing master Walter Liew!
ADDITIONS TO THE TRUE INDOOR BONSAI WEBSITE:
- MICRO-LOBSTER 2007 NEWS
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- A VISIT TO AN OAHU CORAL HABITAT!
- Tom Iwai and Mike Yamamoto are making exciting progress in understanding opae'ula habitats! This is a report on their activities!
- DENNIS NAKASHIMA'S PAGE
- Dennis visited Fuku-Bonsai about two years ago and shares his story of how he first got interested in opae'ula and his efforts that have now led to success! Dennis has sent additional reports of increased reproduction in his other units. Mahalo Dennis!