Sei Boku Bonsai Kai marks 42 years with free San Mateo show
Sei Boku Bonsai Kai turned 42 with a free San Mateo show, more than 30 trees, a tree clinic, and a Steve Jang demo capped by a raffle.
Sei Boku Bonsai Kai kept a 42-year public bonsai tradition alive in San Mateo with a free anniversary show at the San Mateo Garden Center on Parkside Way. The one-day gathering brought more than 30 bonsai into view, along with the kind of hands-on access that turns a casual stop into a real entry point for the hobby.
The show ran Saturday, June 13, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and was set up as an in-person community event at the garden center. Visitors found not just display tables, but also a tree clinic, vendor sales, plant sales, door prizes and raffle prizes, which gave the day the feel of a club open house as much as an exhibition.
The center of the program was a demonstration by Steve Jang, scheduled from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The demo tree was raffled afterward, a detail that gave the afternoon a bit of extra energy and made the teaching side of the show feel participatory rather than distant. For bonsai people, that mix matters: it meant the club was not only showing finished trees, but also pulling back the curtain on technique in front of the public.
That balance of display and instruction reflected the role Sei Boku Bonsai Kai has carved out over more than four decades. A 42nd-anniversary show is not just a calendar item; it is evidence of a club that has kept showing up, building a visible local tradition, and giving the wider community a way into bonsai without a membership card or a ticket price.
For longtime Bay Area bonsai fans, the draw was the combination of species, styling and club expertise under one roof. For newcomers, the free admission, the tree clinic and the raffle-friendly demo lowered the barrier to the art at exactly the right scale. The result was a show that looked less like a one-off event and more like a living institution, still rooted on Parkside Way and still making room for the next generation of visitors who want to stand in front of a tree and ask how it got that way.
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