Bonsai is the art of aesthetic miniaturization of trees, or of developing woody or semi-woody plants shaped as trees, by growing them in containers. Cultivation includes techniques for shaping, watering, and repotting in various styles of containers.
‘Bonsai’ is a Japanese pronunciation of the earlier Chinese term penzai. The word bonsai is used in the West as an umbrella term for all miniature trees in containers or pots.
Short video showing off some great examples of Bonsai trees
Origami is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding. The goal of this art is to create a representation of an object using geometric folds and crease patterns preferably without the use of gluing or cutting the paper, and using only one piece of paper.
Origami only uses a small number of different folds, but they can be combined in a variety of ways to make intricate designs. The most well known form is probably the Japanese paper crane. In general, these designs begin with a square sheet of paper whose sides may be different colors or prints. Contrary to most popular belief, traditional Japanese origami, which has been practiced since the Edo era (1603–1867), has often been less strict about these conventions, sometimes cutting the paper during the creation of the design.
Renowned origami artist Robert Lang’s beetles, centipedes and dinosaurs are exhibited around the world. In this video, Lang tells Wired how he became an origami master.
Japanese calligraphy is a form of calligraphy, or artistic writing, used for writing the Japanese language. For a long time, the most esteemed calligrapher in Japan had been Wang Xizhi, a Chinese calligrapher in the 4th century but after the invention of Hiragana and Katakana, the Japanese unique syllabaries, the distinctive Japanese writing system developed and calligraphers produced styles intrinsic to Japan.
Kabuki is the highly stylised classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing, dance, and skill. Kabuki is therefore sometimes translated as “the art of singing and dancing.” These are, however, ateji, characters that do not reflect actual etymology. The kanji of ‘skill’, is however generally referred to as a performer in kabuki theatre. The word kabuki is believed to derive from the verb kabuku, meaning “to lean” or “to be out of the ordinary”, so kabuki can be interpreted to mean “avant-garde” or “bizarre” theatre. The expression kabukimono referred originally to those who were bizarrely dressed and swaggered on a street.
Anime, in addition to manga (Japanese comics), is extremely popular in Japan and well known throughout the world. Anime can be released by television broadcast, directly to video, theatrically, as well as online.
Anime can be hand-drawn or computer animated. It is used in television series, films, video, video games, commercials, and internet-based releases, and represents most, if not all, genres of fiction.
