"Bonsai styles Bonsai is a Japanese art form using miniature trees grown in containers. Similar practices exist in other cultures, including the Chinese tradition of ""penjing"" from which the art originated, and the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese ""hòn non bộ"", but this article describes the Japanese tradition. The Japanese art of bonsai dates back over a thousand years, and has evolved its own unique aesthetics and terminology. A key design practice in bonsai is a set of commonly understood, named styles that describe canonical tree and setting designs. These well-known styles provide a convenient shorthand means for communicating about"
"Bonsai Bonsai (, ) is a Japanese art form using cultivation techniques to produce small trees in containers that mimic the shape and scale of full size trees. Similar practices exist in other cultures, including the Chinese tradition of ""penzai"" or ""penjing"" from which the art originated, and the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese . The Japanese tradition dates back over a thousand years. The Japanese loanword ""bonsai"" has become an umbrella term in English, attached to many forms of potted or other plants, and also on occasion to other living and non-living things (e.g., Bonsai kitten). According to Stephen"
"and sub-tropical tree species will survive and grow indoors. Some of these tropical and sub-tropical species are suited to bonsai aesthetics and can be shaped much as traditional outdoor bonsai are. Bonsai Bonsai (, ) is a Japanese art form using cultivation techniques to produce small trees in containers that mimic the shape and scale of full size trees. Similar practices exist in other cultures, including the Chinese tradition of ""penzai"" or ""penjing"" from which the art originated, and the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese . The Japanese tradition dates back over a thousand years. The Japanese loanword ""bonsai"" has"
"Japan more than a thousand years ago, there are similar practices in other cultures like the living miniature landscapes of Vietnam ""hòn non bộ"". The word ""bonsai"" is often used in English as an umbrella term for all miniature trees in containers or pots. The purposes of bonsai are primarily contemplation (for the viewer) and the pleasant exercise of effort and ingenuity (for the grower). Bonsai practice focuses on long-term cultivation and shaping of one or more small trees growing in a container, beginning with a cutting, seedling, or small tree of a species suitable for bonsai development. Bonsai can"
"specialists to becoming a widely popular art form and hobby. In Itami, Hyōgo (near Osaka), Japanese scholars of Chinese arts gathered in the early 19th century to discuss recent styles in the art of miniature trees. Many terms and concepts adopted by this group were derived from the (""Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden"" in English; in Japanese).The Japanese version of potted trees, which had been previously called or other terms, were renamed ""bonsai"" (the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese term penzai). This word connoted a shallow container, not a deeper bowl style. The term ""bonsai"", however, would not become"
"in its container. In the very largest size ranges, a recognized Japanese practice is to name the trees ""two-handed"", ""four-handed"", and so on, based on the number of men required to move the tree and pot. These trees will have dozens of branches and can closely simulate a full-size tree. The very largest size, called ""imperial"", is named after the enormous potted trees of Japan's Imperial Palace. At the other end of the size spectrum, there are a number of specific techniques and styles associated solely with the smallest common sizes, ""mame"" and ""shito"". These techniques take advantage of the"
"bonsai's minute dimensions and compensate for the limited number of branches and leaves that can appear on a tree this small. The Japanese tradition of bonsai does not include indoor bonsai, and bonsai appearing at Japanese exhibitions or in catalogs have been grown outdoors for their entire lives. In less-traditional settings, including climates more severe than Japan's, indoor bonsai may appear in the form of potted trees cultivated for the indoor environment. Traditionally, bonsai are temperate climate trees grown outdoors in containers. Kept in the artificial environment of a home, these trees weaken and die. But a number of tropical"
"Penjing: The maintenance and care of penjing trees are similar to that of the bonsai. Penjing Penjing, also known as penzai, is the ancient Chinese art of depicting artistically formed trees, other plants, and landscapes in miniature. Penjing generally fall into one of three categories: Similar practices exist in other cultures, including the Japanese traditions of ""bonsai"" and ""saikei"", as well as the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese ""hòn non bộ"". Generally speaking, tree ""penjing"" specimens differ from ""bonsai"" by allowing a wider range of tree shapes (more ""wild-looking"") and by planting them in bright-colored and creatively shaped pots. In"
"Bonsai cultivation and care Bonsai cultivation and care involves the long-term cultivation of small trees in containers, called ""bonsai"" in the Japanese tradition of this art form. Similar practices exist in other Japanese art forms and in other cultures, including ""saikei"" (Japanese), ""penjing"" (Chinese), and ""hòn non bộ"" (Vietnamese). Trees are difficult to cultivate in containers, which restrict root growth, nutrition uptake, and resources for transpiration (primarily soil moisture). In addition to the root constraints of containers, bonsai trunks, branches, and foliage are extensively shaped and manipulated to meet aesthetic goals. Specialized tools and techniques are used to protect the"
"Penjing Penjing, also known as penzai, is the ancient Chinese art of depicting artistically formed trees, other plants, and landscapes in miniature. Penjing generally fall into one of three categories: Similar practices exist in other cultures, including the Japanese traditions of ""bonsai"" and ""saikei"", as well as the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese ""hòn non bộ"". Generally speaking, tree ""penjing"" specimens differ from ""bonsai"" by allowing a wider range of tree shapes (more ""wild-looking"") and by planting them in bright-colored and creatively shaped pots. In contrast, ""bonsai"" are more simplified in shape (more ""refined"" in appearance) with larger-in-proportion trunks, and"
"research, discovery, or creation of plants that are permanent, genetic miniatures of existing species. Plant dwarfing often uses selective breeding or genetic engineering to create dwarf cultivars. Bonsai does not require genetically dwarfed trees, but rather depends on growing small trees from regular stock and seeds. Bonsai uses cultivation techniques like pruning, root reduction, potting, defoliation, and grafting to produce small trees that mimic the shape and style of mature, full-size trees. The Japanese art of bonsai originated from the Chinese practice of penjing. From the 6th century onward, Imperial embassy personnel and Buddhist students from Japan visited and returned"
"Deadwood bonsai techniques Bonsai is a Japanese art using miniature trees grown in containers, similar in some ways to the Chinese art of ""penjing"" and the Vietnamese art of ""hòn non bộ"". The Japanese tradition of bonsai cultivation contains many specialized terms and techniques for creating bonsai and enhancing the illusion of age and the portrayal of austerity that mark a successful bonsai. Some of these methods are the deadwood techniques, which create, shape, and preserve dead wood on a living bonsai. Similar methods may exist in other traditions, but this article deals with the traditional deadwood terminology and techniques"
"be created from nearly any perennial woody-stemmed tree or shrub species that produces true branches and can be cultivated to remain small through pot confinement with crown and root pruning. Some species are popular as bonsai material because they have characteristics, such as small leaves or needles, that make them appropriate for the compact visual scope of bonsai and a miniature deciduous forest can even be created using such species as Japanese maple, Japanese zelkova or hornbeam. Tree shaping is the practice of changing living trees and other woody plants into man made shapes for art and useful structures. There"
"but temperatures need not be dropped as far as for the temperate climate plants and a north-facing windowsill or open window may provide the right conditions for a few winter months. Bonsai cultivation and care Bonsai cultivation and care involves the long-term cultivation of small trees in containers, called ""bonsai"" in the Japanese tradition of this art form. Similar practices exist in other Japanese art forms and in other cultures, including ""saikei"" (Japanese), ""penjing"" (Chinese), and ""hòn non bộ"" (Vietnamese). Trees are difficult to cultivate in containers, which restrict root growth, nutrition uptake, and resources for transpiration (primarily soil moisture)."
"to interest the public. In the Tenmei era (1781–88), an exhibit of traditional dwarf potted pines began to be held every year in Kyoto. Connoisseurs from five provinces and neighboring areas would bring one or two plants each to the show in order to submit them to visitors for ranking. In Itami, Hyōgo (near Osaka), a group of scholars of Chinese arts gathered in the early 19th century to discuss recent styles in the art of miniature trees. Their version of these, which had been previously called ""hachiue"" or other terms, were renamed ""bonsai"" (the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese"
"Japanese individual who has an outdoors slatted-workbench holding a shallow wooden tray and ceramic dish of Chinese origin with dwarf trees, grasses, and stones. By this time Chán Buddhism had been developed in Japan as Zen. Its influence of ""beauty in severe austerity"" led native Japanese dwarf potted landscapes to be distilled into single, ideal trees being representatives of the universe. What is termed bonsai derives from this. Since at least the 16th century, shops at the ""Garden of Dragon Flowers"" (Longhua) to the southwest of Shanghai, were engaged in cultivating miniature trees in containers. (These would continue to the"
"be termed bonsai, bonseki and garden architecture itself. At first, the Japanese used miniaturized trees grown in containers to decorate their homes and gardens. Criticism of the interest in curiously twisted specimens of potted plants shows up in one chapter of the 243-chapter compilation ""Tsurezuregusa"" (c. 1331). This work would become a sacred teaching handed down from master to student, through a limited chain of poets (some famous), until it was at last widely published in the early 17th century. Before then, the criticism had only a modest influence on dwarf potted tree cultures. In 1351, dwarf trees displayed on"
"the age of the tree when it began bonsai training, the tree's pre-existing shape and structure, even the bonsai artist's training and preferences, strongly affect the shape of the resulting bonsai. These competing influences ensure that the style system acts mostly as a creative aid, not a dominating constraint, in producing a finished bonsai. Bonsai styles Bonsai is a Japanese art form using miniature trees grown in containers. Similar practices exist in other cultures, including the Chinese tradition of ""penjing"" from which the art originated, and the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese ""hòn non bộ"", but this article describes the"
"Bonseki Bonseki (, ""tray rocks"") is the ancient Japanese art of creating miniature landscapes on black lacquer trays using white sand, pebbles, and small rocks. Small delicate tools are used in Bonseki such as feathers, small flax brooms, sifters, spoons and wood wedges. The trays are either oval or rectangular, measuring about 60 by 35 centimeters in size. Oval trays have a low rim while rectangular ones are flat. Bonseki scenes often depict mountains, seashores, and gardens. Small stones are used to represent mountains, shore lines or rocky islands that waves break upon. Miniature structures, usually of painted copper, are"
"tree chair. Other artistic horticultural practices such as bonsai, espalier, and topiary share some elements and a common heritage, though a number of distinctions may be identified. Bonsai is the art of growing trees in small containers. Bonsai uses techniques such as pruning, root reduction, and shaping branches and roots to produce small trees that mimic full-sized mature trees. Bonsai is not intended for production of food, but instead mainly for contemplation by viewers, like most fine art. Espalier is the art and horticultural practice of training tree branches onto ornamental shapes along a frame for ascetic and fruit production"
"Totekiko Totekiko is one of the five gardens at the Ryōgen-in sub-temple of the Daitoku-ji Buddhist complex in Kita-ku, Kyoto, Japan. It was laid out by Nabeshima Gakusho in 1958, and is claimed to be the smallest Japanese rock garden. It is a ""tsubo-niwa"", a small enclosed garden, composed of rocks placed on raked sand. Concentric gravel circles around stones placed towards each end of the garden are connected by parallel ridges and furrows. The garden is briefly illuminated by the sun at around noon each day, and it is occasionally covered by snow in the winter. The garden symbolises"
"plants"", as well as a ""tradition of animism, a belief that every natural thing has a soul"". The mascots were designed by Japanese artist Ryo Taniguchi, who lives in the Fukuoka Prefecture in southern Japan. Taniguchi was persuaded by his father, who is also an illustrator, to study art at Cabrillo College in California. He has illustrated English-language textbooks for Japanese children. Taniguchi was uninvolved in the naming of the mascots, though he did attend a screening at which various naming proposals were introduced. As part of the agreement to use the mascots, Taniguchi transferred intellectual property rights to the"
"Orr in ""The New York Times"", ""the term should be reserved for plants that are grown in shallow containers following the precise tenets of bonsai pruning and training, resulting in an artful miniature replica of a full-grown tree in nature."" In the most restrictive sense, ""bonsai"" refers to miniaturized, container-grown trees adhering to Japanese tradition and principles. The purposes of bonsai are primarily contemplation for the viewer, and the pleasant exercise of effort and ingenuity for the grower. By contrast with other plant cultivation practices, bonsai is not intended for production of food or for medicine. Instead, bonsai practice focuses"
"health and vigor of the subject tree. Over time, the artistic manipulation of small trees in containers has led to a number of cultivation and care approaches that successfully meet the practical and the artistic requirements of bonsai and similar traditions. The term ""bonsai"" is generally used in English as an umbrella term for all miniature trees in containers or pots. In this article ""bonsai"" should be understood to include any container-grown tree that is regularly styled or shaped, not just one being maintained in the Japanese bonsai tradition. Bonsai can be created from nearly any perennial woody-stemmed tree or"
"weaving of thin, whippy stems of trees to form a basketry affect. Bonsai is the art of aesthetic miniaturization of trees, or of developing woody or semi-woody plants shaped as trees, by growing them in containers. Cultivation includes techniques for shaping, watering, and repotting in various styles of containers. Tree shaping uses living trees as a medium to create structures and art for example, chairs, ladders, mirrors and people trees. There are a few different methods to create shaped trees, which share a common heritage with other artistic horticultural and agricultural practices, such as pleaching, bonsai, espalier, and topiary, and"
"Japan, where it grows at 1500–2000 m altitude. It is found growing in groups of 10-20, with a total population of only about 250 mature trees. The main cause of decline is the loss of natural regeneration after typhoons, with windblown trees being replaced by the planting of other faster-growing commercially valuable species. Other threats include wildfires, landslides and changes in temperature and precipitation associated with climate change. There is little genetic exchange between different fragmentary locations where it grows, and the total area of occupation by this tree is less than . The tree is named after the Japanese"
"some specialized care techniques: Bonsai aesthetics are the aesthetic goals characterizing the Japanese tradition of growing an artistically shaped miniature tree in a container. Many Japanese cultural characteristics, in particular the influence of Zen Buddhism and the expression of Wabi-sabi, inform the bonsai tradition in Japan. Established art forms that share some aesthetic principles with bonsai include penjing and saikei. A number of other cultures around the globe have adopted the Japanese aesthetic approach to bonsai, and, while some variations have begun to appear, most hew closely to the rules and design philosophies of the Japanese tradition. Over centuries of"
"Kuyo-Kai states: ""The importance of Bonseki is the peaceful feeling and satisfaction you derive from creating a Bonseki scene and not the result of the work."" Bonseki Bonseki (, ""tray rocks"") is the ancient Japanese art of creating miniature landscapes on black lacquer trays using white sand, pebbles, and small rocks. Small delicate tools are used in Bonseki such as feathers, small flax brooms, sifters, spoons and wood wedges. The trays are either oval or rectangular, measuring about 60 by 35 centimeters in size. Oval trays have a low rim while rectangular ones are flat. Bonseki scenes often depict mountains,"
"around 1951. Official website Fuji Bamboo Garden The Fuji Bamboo Garden (富士竹類植物園 Fuji Chikurui Shokubutsuen?) is Japan’s only botanical garden specializing in bamboo. Fuji Bamboo Garden is located in Nagaizumi, which is part of Japan's Shizuoka Prefecture (southwest of Tokyo). The garden is located at the base of Mount Fuji, from where the garden's name originated. The garden occupies over 2 acres of land. Fuji Bamboo Garden is said to be the world’s largest collection of bamboo, holding more than 450 varieties of bamboo from all around the world. The garden contains approximately 100,000 bamboo plants. The types of bamboo"
"term penzai). This term had the connotation of a shallower container in which the Japanese could now more successfully style small trees. The term ""bonsai"", however, would not become regularly used in describing their dwarf potted trees for nearly a century. Many others terms and compositions adopted by this group were derived from ""Kai-shi-en Gaden"", the Japanese version of ""Jieziyuan Huazhuan"" (Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden). In 1829, a significant book that first established classical bonsai art, ""Sōmoku Kin'yō-shū"" (, ""A Colorful Collection of Trees and Plants""/""Collection of tree leaves""), was published. It includes the basic criteria for the"
"in relation to the wood fibers. ""Cryptomeria japonica"" is extensively used in forestry plantations in Japan, China and the Azores islands, and is widely cultivated as an ornamental tree in other temperate areas, including Britain, Europe, North America and eastern Himalaya regions of Nepal and India. The cultivar 'Elegans' is notable for retaining juvenile foliage throughout its life, instead of developing normal adult foliage when one year old (see the picture with different shoots). It makes a small, shrubby tree tall. There are numerous dwarf cultivars that are widely used in rock gardens and for bonsai, including 'Tansu', 'Koshyi', 'Little"
"Komikan (fruit) The is a type of mandarin orange grown in Japan. ""Ko"" means ""little"", and ""mikan"" a type of citrus cultivar; komikans are unusually small. It is almost the same as the Kishumikan. It is sometimes called a grown on Sakurajima, an active composite volcano in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The same cultivar is also grown in Fukuyama in Kirishima along Kagoshima Bay, and this is simply called komikan (小みかん, 小蜜柑). Because the soil is rich in volcanic ash, Sakurajima is not suitable for rice cultivation, so the 'komikan' is an important commercial crop. Some of the huge trees have"
"trees. Numerous maple cultivars that have been selected for particular characteristics can be propagated only by asexual reproduction such as cuttings, tissue culture, budding or grafting. ""Acer palmatum"" (Japanese maple) alone has over 1,000 cultivars, most selected in Japan, and many of them no longer propagated or not in cultivation in the Western world. Some delicate cultivars are usually grown in pots and rarely reach heights of more than 50–100 cm. Maples are a popular choice for the art of bonsai. Japanese maple (""Acer palmatum""), trident maple (""A. buergerianum""), Amur maple (""A. ginnala""), field maple (""A. campestre"") and Montpellier maple"