Kahi Ching in red shirt holding bonsai plant
Miniature Master

The Japanese art form of bonsai gets a Hawaiian treatment in the hands of Kahi Ching.

Text By
Sonny Ganaden
Images by
John Hook

Kahi Ching works in the bonsai garden fronting his home, before the sun floods the scene with tropical heat and forces a lunch break. The rumbling of the H-1 Freeway echoes through the valley of apartment buildings in the Mō‘ili‘ili neighborhood of Honolulu. “People say, ‘Keep the Country Country,’ and that’s important, but I’m trying to make the town country, too,” Kahi says. “Seeing things growing makes people comfortable.” His garden, which is really a communal carport floored in gravel, hosts more than 150 bonsai ranging in height from 2 inches to 10 feet, and a variety of unfinished wooden sculptures. It looks like something out of a Hayao Miyazaki animation, as if the manicured plants and art pieces might escape their shackling containers and take a walk around the neighborhood.

Bonsai, or the art of growing trees ornamentally in pots, is more than 1,000 years old, originating in China and redeveloped under the influence of Zen Buddhism in Japan. Hawai‘i has more bonsai practitioners per capita than any other U.S. state, the result of a Japanese and Okinawan community engaged in the practice for more than a century on the islands, aided by the clean air, tropical sun, and regular showers. Today, its hobbyists are diverse, reflecting the population of the islands. “People told me that Hawaiians didn’t do bonsai—that they only tended to plants in the ground. But I’m not so sure of that,” Kahi says while delivering a tour of the endemic and invasive species he has miniaturized and manipulated. “Hawaiians had plants for everything, and they traveled with plants really far distances,” he continues, referring to the transoceanic voyages made by Polynesians with breadfruit, taro, bamboo, and sweet potato in tow.

Over the years, Kahi has developed his own Hawaiian version of bonsai, what he calls umeke lā‘au, which involves working with plants endemic to Hawai‘i when possible, and eschewing the constraints of traditional Japanese bonsai in favor of freeform aesthetics. Most of his trees come from seeds or trimmings that have been discarded. Others are saved from demolition sites. “Trees are always telling stories,” says Kahi, who has been tending plants since he was 5 years old. “If they’re in a windswept area, they lean in a certain direction. … Plants in dry areas can have bleached wood. Older trees have long branches that dip back down to the ground. Those ones are kūpuna (ancestors) already, gorgeous with age.”

Though Kahi’s hair is graying, he maintains a teenage energy, bounding through ideas from horticulture to politics to the relationship between oceanic travel and space travel. His own voyage began in Kāne‘ohe, on the windward side of O‘ahu, took him briefly to design school in San Francisco, and continued with a career in sign painting in Honolulu. During the 2008 recession, when Kahi and his wife, Diana, decided to close a Waikīkī they owned, Kahi returned to work as an artist, both in and out of his garden. Now, they maintain a successful practice with commissions across the islands for Kahi’s murals, signage, framing, and bonsai creations.

As is the case with many exceedingly creative humans, the whole operation is dependent on familial support. In addition to raising three children in a house that doubles as her husband’s art studio, and managing Kahi’s artistic pursuits, Diana also makes and sells signs and cakes. The kids are used to the way their dad works, with the tools mixed in with household items and art stuff everywhere. But the family is looking forward to relocating to a larger house next door, where Diana can find a place to hang the 3-foot chainsaw, which normally rests sheathed on the kitchen floor.

In the garden, Kahi’s premiere umeke la‘au muse is bougainvillea, the ubiquitous bush of Polynesia. “I like the way the flower is right next to dead wood,” says Kahi, pointing to colorful bracts in a dense bramble. “It’s about the beauty of both, in harmony with each other.”

For more information on Kahi’s work, visit kahiching.com.

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Kahi Ching in red shirt holding bonsai plant

At his home in the Mō‘ili‘ili neighborhood of Honolulu, Kahi Ching prunes more than 150 bonsai plants ranging in size from 2 inches to 10 feet.

Bonsai tree
Kahi Ching in red shirt holding bonsai plant

At his home in the Mō‘ili‘ili neighborhood of Honolulu, Kahi Ching prunes more than 150 bonsai plants ranging in size from 2 inches to 10 feet.

Bonsai tree
Plant cutters in laid on top soil

For Kahi Ching, who has been tending plants since he was 5 years old, “trees are always telling stories.”

Bonsai tree

Kahi has developed his own Hawaiian version of bonsai that he calls umeke lā‘au, which involves working with plants endemic to Hawai‘i when possible, and using freeform aesthetics.

Wood in the process for bonsai making

Over the years, Kahi has developed his own Hawaiian version of bonsai, what he calls umeke lā‘au, which involves working with plants endemic to Hawai‘i when possible.

Kahi Ching with saw in hand

Kahi Ching maintains a teenage energy, bounding through ideas ranging from horticulture to politics to the relationship between oceanic travel and space travel.

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