Bonkei

Its three-dimensional character and permanence distinguish bonkei from bonseki, which is a Japanese form of sand-painting that produces mostly-flat images on a display tray, usually for transient viewing before being erased for a new creation.

Raised areas representing river banks, hills, cliffs, or mountains are built up from sculptable materials like ciment fondu, clay, papier mache, or a dried and powdered peat called keto in Japan.

Human and animal figurines and miniature models of structures and vehicles are placed on top of the bonkei's base landscape to create a fully realized scene.

The completed bonkei can be displayed in the home similar to "a bonsai, a painting, or a floral arrangement – at proper height, against an uncluttered background".

[4]: 209 Bonkei is similar in some ways to the Japanese saikei (plant landscape), Chinese penjing, or Vietnamese hon non bo art forms.

"[4]: 10  As a result of this key difference, many bonkei specimens can last a long time with no maintenance, where a saikei requires frequent tending and a favorable environment for growth of the trees and other vegetation it contains.

In 1848, a relatively unknown artist named Utagawa Yoshishige (歌川芳重) created and published a book of colored prints depicting bonkei specimens, titled Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō as Potted Landscapes (Tokaido Gojusan-eki Hachiyama Edyu).

These background images resemble the hanging scroll in a traditional Japanese home's tokonoma alcove, often displayed behind a living bonsai specimen.

These and other similarities in subject, style, and materials link Kimura Tōsen's 19th-century specimens to the bonkei art form as currently practiced in Japan.