Pop Bonsai: Fun with Arranging Small Trees and Plants

So what exactly is "pop bonsai"? Bonsai like you've never seen before-a "freestyle" version, in fun containers, that reflects the author's breakaway approach to this ancient art.

Pop Bonsai involves taking a tiny seedling, trimming its branches and leaves, and wiring the trunk and branches to bend them into almost any style. The result: a living work of art, for next to no cost, to display as you like-in a ball of moss, on a can of beer, even in a pair of shoes or an eggcup! Naturally this does require some basic bonsai techniques, and advice on looking after plants. But in contrast to classical bonsai, where the aim is carefully to reproduce natural scenery in miniature, pop bonsai stresses the imagination and creativity of people living modern lives.

Throughout, Pop Bonsai takes a no-fuss approach. Almost any kind of tree or foliage plant can be used, and you're encouraged to grow it from scratch. Before starting, you are told what you should know about trees in general, with hints on choosing the right one for your purpose. Instructions on care and maintenance-soil, temperature, pruning, watering and fertilizers-are provided in a sensible, easy-to-follow way that should take the tension out of "gardening" even for those who have never tried it.

In your own home or on a balcony or at work, pop bonsai will let you enjoy the wonder of the changing seasons close-up, and remind you how precious and fragile life can be. But, cared for properly, your tree should live for decades. And in the process it will give you a taste of the enormous satisfaction to be gained from creating, and watching over, your own living work of art.

LISA TAJIMA attended college in the United States before returning to Japan to work for several years as a music journalist. After starting to study bonsai with a traditional master, she created her own style-which she termed "pop bonsai"-and began to attract attention as a new-generation bonsai artist.

The inventiveness of her work has been recognized in a number of awards, even some from Japan's most traditional competitions. She has also studied ceramics, and makes her own containers, including "walking bonsai" ones.

HISAYOSHI OSAWA has worked in various fields of photography: fashion, acting, art, cooking and advertising. He won the 20th Japan Advertising Photographers' Association prize, and has held exhibitions of his work. He has also published several books of photography.