Bonsai
The word ‘bonsai’ derives from the Chinese ‘pun-sai’ and means ‘pot’ and ‘tree’. Indeed, the art of bonsai originated in China and only later spread to Japan. Japanese culture, already rich in artistic expression and characterised by an eye for detail and a fondness for small objects, embraced bonsai quite naturally and made it an integral part of its own tradition. The cultivation of bonsai then spread to the rest of the world, becoming not only a way to stimulate one’s imagination but also to gain a deeper understanding of nature and to accord it a new value and respect, almost comparable to that which we would bestow upon a work of art.