He also speaks correct Portuguese, and lives in a typical Japanese house, adopting some habits from Japan, like Bonsai, Ofuro, etc.
The Bonsai Courtyard of HLG is one of the largest collection of Bonsai on display in
Bonsai and okimono are also sometimes displayed there, although traditionally, bonsai were considered to be too dirty for such a highly respected place.
For better effect, the bonsai can be placed in enclosures, such as terrariums, that are humidified from within.
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Fluorescent lighting (preferably with bulbs radiating growth-friendly spectra) and light-emitting diode lighting can give sufficient light to support a significant number of indoor bonsai species.
In Orange County, Naka and four friends founded a bonsai club in November, 1950, which is known today as the California Bonsai Society.
Of great interest for the development of the Japanese garden, bonseki, bonsai and related arts is Kokan Shirens rhymeprose essay Rhymeprose on a Miniature Landscape Garden.
As of 2007, it contains about 120,000 plants representing some 12,000 species, and is organized into the following major areas: Bamboo Garden; Bonsai Exhibit; Camellia Garden; Cherry Trees; European Style Garden; Flower Bed; Hydrangea Garden; Japanese Iris Garden; Japanese Native Plants; Lotus Pond; Nakaragi-no-mori Pond (trees native to the Yamashiro Basin); Peony Garden; Perennial and Useful Plants Garden; Sunken Garden; and the Uma Grove.
He is a bonsai enthusiast; and he initiated the exhibition of Australian native plants as bonsai that are displayed at the Australian National Botanic Gardens annually.
Uncle Bonsai has opened for various artists, including Bonnie Raitt, TOTO, Suzanne Vega, Christine Lavin, Loudon Wainwright III, and The Bobs.
In 2012 he authored the large format book Fine Bonsai: Art & Nature (NY: Abbeville Press, ISBN 978-0789211125), which has 596 digital color photos (including 4 gate folds) by Jonathan M. Singer.
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William N. Valavanis, born September 3, 1951 in Waukegan, Illinois, is a Greek-American bonsai master who carries on Yuji Yoshimura's tradition of teaching Japanese techniques and aesthetics to enthusiasts in the West.