Bonsai

The loanword bonsai has become an umbrella term in English, attached to many forms of diminutive potted plants,[2] and also on occasion to other living and non-living things.

According to Stephen Orr in The New York Times, "[i]n the West, the word is used to describe virtually all miniature container trees, whether they are authentically trained bonsai or just small rooted cuttings.

Technically, though, 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.

Bonsai can be created from nearly any perennial woody-stemmed tree or shrub species[5] that produces true branches and can be cultivated to remain small through pot confinement with crown and root pruning.

Throughout the year, the bonsai is shaped to limit growth, redistribute foliar vigor to areas requiring further development, and meet the artist's detailed design.

[6][7] In the Tang Dynasty, there was the art of representing natural scenery with plants and stones in a tray[citation needed] At that time, the term bonkei (penjing) was not yet used in China or Japan.

In Japan's Shōsōin, an incomplete specimen of a kazan, in which modeled beaches and mountains fashioned from wood are decorated with small trees of silver metal, can be found today.

'Intricate beach'), which expressed a beautiful landscape with plants and trees (often made of artificial materials) and accessories to match the title of a waka poem, were exhibited at poetry contests and competed with each other.

[11] Suhama is similar to bonkei, but expresses a uniquely Japanese scene of white sand and green pine trees on a tray with legs that imitate a sandy beach.

[citation needed] In the medieval period, recognizable bonsai were portrayed in handscroll paintings like the Ippen Shōnin Eden (一遍上人絵伝, 1299).

One of the monks' activities was to introduce political leaders to various arts of miniature landscapes as admirable accomplishments for men of taste and learning.

Japanese artists eventually adopted a simpler style for bonsai, increasing focus on the tree by removing miniatures and other decorations, and using smaller, plainer pots.

Many terms and concepts adopted by this group were derived from the Jieziyuan Huazhuan (Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden in English; Kai-shi-en Gaden in Japanese).

In 1910, shaping with wire rather than the older string, rope, and burlap techniques, appeared in the Sanyu-en Bonsai-Dan (History of Bonsai in the Sanyu nursery).

[33][34] In the 1920s and 1930s, toolsmith Masakuni I (1880–1950) helped design and produce the first steel tools specifically made for the developing requirements of bonsai styling.

Properly treated, this indentation would fill over with live tree tissue and bark over time, greatly reducing or eliminating the usual pruning scar.

[citation needed] Prior to World War II, international interest in bonsai was fueled by increased trade in trees and the appearance of books in popular foreign languages.

[citation needed] A large display of bonsai and suiseki was held as part of Expo '70, and formal discussion was made of an international association of enthusiasts.

These conventions attracted several hundreds of participants from dozens of countries and have since been held every four years at different locations around the globe: 1993, Orlando, Florida; 1997, Seoul, Korea; 2001, Munich, Germany; 2005, Washington, D.C.; 2009, San Juan, Puerto Rico; 2013, Jitan, Jiangsu, China; 2017, Saitama, Saitama, Japan; and 2022's virtual convention in Perth, Australia, which replaced the one originally scheduled a year earlier but was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

[citation needed] Another key trend was the increase in books on bonsai and related arts, being published for the first time in English and other languages for audiences outside of Japan.

Japanese bonsai soil components, such as Akadama clay, are available worldwide, and suppliers also provide similar local materials in many locations.

[49] Plant material from every location is being trained into bonsai and displayed at local, regional, national, and international conventions and exhibitions for enthusiasts and the general public.

[citation needed] Over centuries of practice, the Japanese bonsai aesthetic has encoded some important techniques and design guidelines.

Like the aesthetic rules that govern, for example, Western common practice period music, bonsai's guidelines help practitioners work within an established tradition with some assurance of success.

A large growing box can house several bonsai and provide a great volume of soil per tree to encourage root growth.

Pots usually have vertical sides, so that the tree's root mass can easily be removed for inspection, pruning, and replanting, although this is a practical consideration and other container shapes are acceptable.

In recent times, bonsai creators have also begun to fabricate rock-like slabs from raw materials including concrete[66] and glass-reinforced plastic.

The competition is held in December of each year and the top prize is the Prime Minister Award, which went to Hiroaki Suzuki in 2022 for a Shimpaku Juniper tree.

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.

However, a number of tropical and sub-tropical tree species will survive and grow indoors, such as the jade plant and members of the genus Ficus.