Of the more than 200 countries in the world, Japan is apparently 61st from the top in terms of land area. A country with an area close to that is Germany, but compared to Germany with a population of approximately 82 million, Japan’s population is approximately 110 million. That is how densely populated it is.
In addition, Japan is often sandwiched between mountains and the sea, which limits the amount of land suitable for habitation, making the country even more cramped.
In the end, each family is forced to build a smaller house…
The housing environment seems to be cramped from the point of view of people from countries with large areas of land, and has even been derided as a ‘rabbit hutch’.
(ー_ー;)
Do these constraints of the living environment also influence the Japanese character? In terms of creation, the Japanese do not seem to be suited to creating large objects.
In modern times, they have started to build huge structures such as skyscrapers and crossing bridges, but this is an application and study of technology, which is slightly different from the originality of the Japanese.
In addition, since ancient times, people have prioritised internal stability and avoided outlandish ideas, making it difficult for ideas to emerge that no one had thought of before, and the social climate to foster them was not created until modern times.
So what have the Japanese produced so far?
The Japanese seem to excel at taking a clue and turning it into something sophisticated, sometimes even something completely different. And the products they create are often small and precise.
Sometimes that ingenuity will go too far out of control and make a product like ‘such‘ or again like ‘such‘.
Now, let’s go back in time to about 1,300 years ago.
In China (Tang Dynasty) at that time, there was an art form called［Bonkei］. It depicted natural scenes by arranging small tree branches, soil, sand and moss on a tray. It is like a three-dimensional landscape painting, so to speak.
This was introduced to Japan across the sea. It is believed to date from the Nara period (8th century).
At first, it was a luxury item prized only by the aristocracy and a few privileged classes, but its taste must have struck a chord with the Japanese people. Over time, it became widely known and at the same time was given a Japanese twist.
The larger ones were applied to the ‘tsukiyama（築山）’ or ‘suhama（洲浜）’ created in Japanese gardens, while the smaller ones were sublimated as ‘kazan（仮山）’.
‘Kazan Zanketsu’ from the Shosoin, Nara.
Interestingly, Japanese ingenuity in this period would work in the direction of purification rather than complication. This seems to be particularly the case in the artistic field.
［Bonkei］was introduced to Japan and subsequently simplified to become ‘bonsai’.
The bonsai is a small tree that is cultivated over the years, and only a small amount of moss and stones are added, without any direct presentation of the landscape. By abandoning direct expression, the bonsai evokes an infinite world for the viewer.
The wiggling and bending figure of an old tree tells a profound story that goes beyond the information we can see. It could be said to exist in a similar way to abstract paintings, which do not have a single fixed solution.
In other words, the beauty of bonsai lies in the combination of the creator’s imagination and the viewer’s free sensibility.
I think that is one of the ideals of ‘art’ …
The Japanese are said to be unfamiliar with the arts. It is true that many Japanese people today tend to be overly nervous about the word ‘art’. If you say, for example, “I saw a painting at a museum”, they are unnecessarily impressed.
How did this happen?
My personal view is that this is due to the organisation of special groups such as the “literary organization”, “art organization” and “music organization” in Japan after the influx of Western art during the Meiji period (1868-1912).
They promoted “art” as something more exalted and exclusive, and created a divide between “art” and the “general public”.
Art does not need plausible explanations or difficult logic.
If you can read it, see it, hear it and be truly moved by it, that’s all that matters, and all art should be accessible.
Was ‘bonsai’ considered out of the scope of art by the Meiji-era organganisation because it took root as a hobby of the general public in the Edo period (17th-19th centuries)?
This in turn helped the healthy development of bonsai.
No, on the contrary, in recent decades bonsai has been recognised as a ‘way for old people to pass the time’.
In Japan, there is a popular animation series called 「Sazae-san」, which has been on air for 55 years (Guinness World Records). The fact that the hobby of “Namhei (the father) ” is depicted as tinkering with bonsai in the series is a clear indication of this.
It was very unfortunate that traditional Japanese art was perceived in this way in the country, but this situation has changed considerably in the last decade or so.
The world of bonsai has been booming as more and more young people have become interested in bonsai and it has also become widely known to people abroad.
One after another, people are working to create a new generation of bonsai by integrating modern sensibilities and techniques. Bonsai has been handed down through the ages and will continue to fascinate many people.
If you have the chance, please visit the Japanese ‘minimalist infinite world’, which has been cultivated for more than a thousand years.
（Hoshinchu | Air Bonsai -Promotional Video-）