NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/alt/bonsai/496

Internet Message Format | 1992-12-23 | 1.9 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!stanford.edu!apple!rkn
From: [e-mail] (Richard K. Nordin)
Newsgroups: alt.bonsai
Subject: Re: Again, what is bonsai?
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 24 Dec 92 02:50:12 GMT
References: <[e-mail]>
Distribution: alt.bonsai
Organization: Cybernetic Arts
Lines: 32

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Megumi Sorita) writes:
>
>Now, I have a question:
>In Japan, BONSAI means small trees grown in pots.
>In English, does the word BONSAI have exactly the same meaning in Japan?
>or, Is it include flowers in a pot, or big trees grown on the ground?

Well, ask the average American, and you'll probably learn it's a
Japanese battle cry. Of course they are thinking of "banzai".

But, if you provide a little context, or ask someone familiar with plants,
you'll usually get the "small trees in pots" answer.

Since bonsai is an imported art, though, and we are less constrained by
tradition, we get to play a little loose with the definition. Hence, the
recent post about bonsai corn (maize). If it works, if it's art, call it
bonsai, or perhaps more properly, inspired by bonsai. When the bug hits,
after doing some bonsai of more traditional material, one begins to wonder
what the technique would do for local specimens. And some of those
experiments can be well off the beaten path. For the most part, though,
trees, shrubs, and other woody plants are the subjects of bonsai.

I doubt that very many English speakers would think of a pot of flowers or
a large tree in the ground when they hear the word "bonsai". Relax. We
won't totally corrupt the art form you have so generously shared with
the rest of the world.
--

Hud Nordin
Cybernetic Arts                [e-mail]
Post Office Box 2066           Telephone: [phone]
Sunnyvale, California 94087    Facsimile: 408.248.0416