Bonsai Styles
All tree species have their own basic genetic shapes and sizes, but they get modified due to the locale and environment where they are growing. The growth of trees gets affected by the constant competition for resources like sunlight, water, manure and so on. Natural calamities such as earthquake, flood, hurricane, wildfire, avalanche, snowstorm, hail and lightning also influence their growth. All these leave their mark on trees and are reflected on their root systems, trunks, branches and overall appearance.
There are a multitude of tree shapes in nature and it is impossible to replicate them all precisely. However the Bonsai masters made the art of recreating these shapes easier by grouping and codifying them into few elemental shapes, called ‘styles’ in bonsai parlance.
Formal Upright: Bonsai with a straight trunk growing vertically upwards is called Formal Upright style bonsai (Chokkan). This style occurs in nature when trees grow in an open location without stress, exposed to good sunshine and without any competition from other trees. The style is characterized by a straight, upright, tapering trunk with the apex located over the center of the trunk base. Branches progressively decrease in diameter. The volume of foliage also progressively reduce from the thickest branches at the bottom of the tree to the thinner, shorter branches at the top. Roots are visible on the surface of the soil, extending from the centre of the tree base, radiating symmetrically around the entire trunk and anchoring the tree to the soil.
Informal Upright: Informal Upright style bonsai (Moyogi) is one in which the trunk is not straight, but rather bent into a curved line. The apex is directly above the trunk’s entry into the soil, which gives a sense of stability. Informal Upright style represents a tree in nature that has struggled with the elements of nature. In nature, this shape gets created when trunk movement is broken by storms, ice, snow, or attacks of animals and insects. This style is probably the most popular one in the bonsai, as most trees can be made into Informal Upright bonsais.
Slanting: There are trees in nature that slant to one side due to strong wind blowing in that direction, or the tree bends to get better sunlight if it is in a shadow. Replication of these types of trees is the Slant style bonsai (Shakan). In the Slant style, the trunk slants at an angle of 60 to 80 degrees relative to the ground. There is a strong root system anchoring the tree to one side and countering the weight of the tree’s slant to the other side. The first branch is on the opposite direction of the slant, which creates a sense of visual balance. The trunk emerges from the soil at an angle, and the apex of the bonsai is located to the left or right of the root base.
Cascade: A tree on a steep cliff can bend and grow downward as a result of several influencing factors, such as water fall, snow or falling rocks. A bonsai that depicts such a tree and has its branches growing below the base of the tree trunk is a Cascade style bonsai (Kengai). The trunk and branches of Cascade bonsai extend below the soil level, even lower than the bottom of the bonsai pot. Cascade is one of the oldest bonsai styles, and is particularly popular in styling small size Shohin/Mame bonsais (up to 8” in height).
Semi cascade: The Semi cascade style (Han-kengai), like the Cascade style, is found in nature on cliffs and on the banks of rivers and lakes. Unlike the Cascade style, the Semi cascade trunk does not grow below the bottom of the pot. The distinguishing feature between Cascade and Semi cascade bonsais is that in the former branches extend lower than the bottom of the pot, whereas in the latter branches are above the bottom of the pot.
Twin trunk, Triple trunk, Multi trunk: A tree with one trunk is Tankan and a tree divided into two or more trunks is Takan. A tree with two trunks is Twin trunk (Sokan), a tree with three trunks is Triple trunk (Sankan) and a tree with five or more trunks is Multi trunk (Kabudachi). All trunks grow out of a single root system and form the branching together. The most developed and the thickest trunk forms the crown.
The Multi trunk style is also known as Clump style, which imitates the natural occurrence when a number of seeds germinate from a single cone, for example. A variation of the Clump style is the Turtle stump style, in which the multiple trunks grow from an exposed, rounded formation of roots. The style gets its name from the shape of the roots, which form a round shape similar to that of a turtle’s back.
Group/Forest: Group/Forest (Yose-ue) bonsai style has a group of plants grown in a shallow pot/tray or a flat stone and recreates a group of trees or a forest setting. An odd number of trees that vary in trunk diameter and height are planted to emulate a real forest, where the trees will be of differing sizes and maturities. The trees with larger trunk diameter are planted in the middle of the pot and the smaller ones on the sides and all trees make a single crown. The trees are of the same species.
When between three to nine trees are planted, the style is ‘Group’. When more than nine trees are planted, the style is called ‘Forest’.
Windswept: Windswept (Fukinagashi) bonsai style depicts a tree that is affected by strong winds blowing continuously in one direction, as might wind would shape a tree atop a mountain ridge or on an exposed shoreline. The trunk and the branches are shaped to one direction, as if the wind has been blowing the tree constantly towards that direction.
Raft: Sometimes in nature, a tree gets toppled due to wind or soil erosion. If the tree has not died and still has a live root system, new branches will grow from the toppled tree trunk and the new growth would look like a number of vertical trees in a line. Bonsai in which this phenomenon is duplicated is the Raft style. There are three types of Raft viz. Straight Line Raft (Ikadabuki), Sinuous Raft (Netsunanari) and Root-connected (Neturanari).
In the Straight Line Raft style (Ikadabuki), the trunk of the fallen tree is straight; so the branches that grow on it are in a straight line and these have upright trunks. Sinuous Raft style (Netsunanari) is similar to Straight Line Raft, except that the (fallen) tree trunk is bent and so the branches growing out of it are not in a straight line and are at differing levels. In Root-connected style (Neturanari), multiple trees that grow out of the fallen trunk are connected by one set of roots.
Broom: Broom style bonsais (Hokidachi) resemble the old trees along city streets. The trunk is straight and upright initially, and then at about 1/3 the height of the tree, branches spring out in all directions. The branches and the foliage grow and form a ball-shaped crown. The Broom style bonsai gets its name from having a shape which is similar to a broom (hoki) that has its brush ends rising upwards (dachi). Some broom styles have branches radiating from one central point, and others have a main trunk line that extends from the base of the trunk to the apex.
Creating perfect Broom style is extremely difficult and requires high skill and expertise in bonsai creation. A suitable plant, generally of deciduous species, is to be grown with radial branches and good ramification to form a thick crown, which may take many years of practice and patience.
Weeping: In the nature, weeping trees like Weeping willows are found in damp areas and along streams and lakes. Bonsai artists replicate this scenario by the use of wire to train a tree like a willow, which makes the Weeping style bonsai (Shidare-zukuri). To create the form in miniature, each branch is wired such that it bends upward and then takes a severe downward bend to style the weep.
Exposed Root: In nature, floods could wash away the soil around tree roots, exposing them. The exposed roots turn into trunks over time. Re-creation of this scenario is the Exposed Root bonsai (Neagari). Roots exposed and interwoven in intricate patterns can display beautiful three-dimensional designs achieved in nature.
Root over Rock: Root over Rock (Sekijoju) is the style wherein the roots of the tree are wrapped around a rock and grow over the rock into the pot, entering the soil at the base of the rock. The rock is at the base of the trunk, with the roots exposed to varying degrees as they traverse the rock and then descend into the soil below.
Root in Rock: When a seed lands in a crack in a rock, it may find enough soil to germinate. The roots may spread in the sparse soil within the crack and grow into a plant. Alternately, the roots may escape containment of the crack and grow over the rock to the soil below, partially encasing the rock. Re-creation of this scenario in bonsai is the Root in Rock (Ishitzuki) style.
The distinguishing difference between Root over Rock style and Root in Rock style is that in the former the roots originate from the soil in the tray, whereas in the latter the roots originate from the soil within the rock and then traverse over the rock to the soil below. In the latter style, the root system is less dominant compared to the former style.
Literati: Literati bonsai style (Bunjin) is an abstract expressionist form of bonsai crafting, allowing more freedom, spontaneity and personal expression to the Bonsai artist. John Naka, the great Bonsai master, said of Literati style, “It is a dream, an abstract. It is an extremely advanced, significant bonsai design.”
Bonsai master Quinquan Zhao defines four key characteristics of a Literati bonsai: (1) aloofness (2) sparseness (3) plainness, and (4) refined elegance. Literati style is characterized by an almost bare trunk with sparse branches, and foliage only towards the top of an often long, contorted trunk. The focus is mostly on flow of the trunk line and less on elements such as trunk taper, branching and foliage. The foliage is kept minimal, just enough to sustain the tree and to keep it healthy.
In nature, Literati style can get formed when the tree is struggling to grow among dense group of trees, and competition is so fierce that it can survive only by growing taller than other trees around it. The trunk grows crookedly upward and is completely bare of branches, as the sun hits only the tree top.
Since ancient times in China, the word Bunjin has been used to denote the intellectuals (literati), who created and passed down a culture based on knowledge and wisdom. The essence of Literati style perhaps reflects what the ‘literati’ envisioned – freedom and detachment that transcends desires and constraints of the society, or solitude and peace of mind away from the dreariness of everyday life. Or perhaps they perceived in Literati bonsai the ultimate beauty of simplicity and harmony with nature, and a true bonsai style that conforms to all aesthetic principles of Wabi Sabi.
Tanuki: Tanuki is not exactly a bonsai style, but a unique technique for making aged-looking bonsais with young plants. Tanuki is in fact an extension of the deadwood techniques, such as jin and shari, that are used in bonsai crafting to give older look to the plants than what their real ages are. For making a Tanuki bonsai, a young live plant is joined with a piece of deadwood, in order to create an illusion of aged look. Tanuki can be made in any of the traditional bonsai styles.
A young thin supple plant that can withstand harsh bending, and an attractive piece of deadwood are chosen for making the Tanuki bonsai. A groove is carved into the deadwood, preferably using electric hand tools, and the plant is fixed within the groove with nails or screws. The plant is then planted in a pot. The trunk grows in the deadwood groove and the plant develops good branching and foliage. The plant is groomed using the standard bonsai shaping techniques, like any other bonsai plant, to the desired bonsai style. With the passage of time, the plant and deadwood together would look like one composite entity, and the Tanuki would take the appearance of an ancient tree. In the hands of a skilled bonsai artist, the finished creation can be spectacular.
Tanuki bonsais are so named after ‘Tanuki’, which in Japanese folklore is a ‘racoon dog’, shape-changing trickster, and so Tanuki technique is not an accepted part of the Japanese bonsai tradition. Tanuki bonsai is known as ‘Phoenix Graft’ in the West, after the mythological Phoenix bird that flew out of its own ashes, meaning that a deadwood piece has attained a new life in Tanuki. Japanese make Tanuki bonsais, but Tanuki bonsais would not be displayed at formal Japanese bonsai shows.