I am not certain, but I believe that Ficus, Serissa and Bougainvillea
may be native to Japan. Remember the island of Okinawa is tropical or
sub-topical and belongs to Japan. Mr. Takeyma, the new chairman of the
Nippon Bonsai Association travels there extensively to teach bonsai. In
the past decades there have been quite a few of these tropical species
included in the National Bonsai Exhibition. It is my thoughts that the
Nippon Bonsai Society wants to recognize that Okinawa IS part of Japan
and in order to be truly a National Bonsai Exhibition they must include
entries (if worthy enough or if the owners have enough money...) to the
show.

Bill Valavanis

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