by Midge Goeth
This article excerpted from “The Creative Art of Bonsai” by Isabelle & Remy Samson 1991.
Styles
In every bonsai you will find the everpresent triangle: God - Earth - Man. The triangle varies from one tree to another with the change of the slope of the angle. This is the essence of style in these dwarf trees.
The number of degrees in the angle formed by a vertical line traced from the top to the bottom of the trunk defines the style. The trees, therefore, may be classified according to their style as defined by the silhouette of the tree. There are four main styles. The other styles stem from these. One or more plants in a single container also defines a style.
Thus, there are four main groups:
GROUP 1: A SINGLE TRUNK
The Chokkan style
This is the Formal Upright style: the tree grows straight up towards the sky. |
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The Kengai style
or the cascade style, plunging downwards. |
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The Shakan style
The trunk bends and may do so to the extent of being a semi cascade style |
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The Bankan style
The trunk winds round itself like a twisted cord. These four styles are the main ones. |
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STYLES DERIVED FROM ABOVE
The Tachiki style
Informal Upright |
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The Bunjingi style or Literati
Style The tree rises obliquely, with a trunk which is bare except at the top |
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The Sabamiki style
The trunk is split, torn, bare in parts |
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The Fukinagashi style
The Windswept style- the tree resembles those which grow along seashores, beaten down by the wind, with their branches on one side of the trunk |
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The Sekijoju style
Root-over-rock style – the roots grip the rock and penetrate the earth |
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The Nejikan style
The trunk is partially twisted |
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The Han-kengai Style
Semi cascade |
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The Hokidachi style
The tree in the form of a broom |
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The Saramiki style
The trunk is stripped of its bark like a dead tree |
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The Neagari style
The roots are exposed |
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The Ishitsuki style
The tree is planted on a rock |
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The Takozukuri style
The ‘octopus’ style |
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GROUP 2: MULTIPLE TRUNKS FROM A SINGLE ROOT
The Sokan style
Double trunk |
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The Kabudachi style
Trunks grouped around a single root |
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The Korabuki style
Multi-trunk style |
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The Ikadabuki style
Straight-line style – the stump is formed by the horizontal root |
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The Netsunagari style
Sinuous style- several trunks grow from a single sinuous root |
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GROUP 3; MULTIPLE TRUNKS/GROUP PLANTINGS
Except for trees planted in pairs, bonsai are always planted in an odd number (3, 5, 7, 9, …)
The Soju style
Twin trunks |
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The Sambon-Yose style
Three trunks |
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The Gohon-Yose style
Five trunks |
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The Nanahon-Yose style
Seven trunks |
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The Kyuhon-Yose style
Nine trunks |
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The Yose-Ue Style
Multiple trunks, more than nine in number |
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The Yomayori or Yomayose
style A natural grouping |
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The Tsukami-Yose style
Clustered group style – multiple trunks springing from the same place |
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GROUP 4: THESE ARE NOT BONSAI IN THE STRICT SENSE OF THE TERM
-Bonkei landscapes
-Kusamomo or Shitakusa grass
plantations or bulbs
-Grass plantations and seasonal plants |
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