History

The origins of bonsai are believed to have begun nearly 2000 years ago during the Han Dynasty in China. It has since developed into new forms in parts of China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam.
At first, the Japanese used miniaturized trees grown in containers to decorate their homes and gardens. During the Tokugawa period, landscape gardening attained new importance. Cultivation of plants such as azalea and maples became a pastime of the wealthy. Growing dwarf plants in containers was also popular. At this time, the term for dwarf potted trees was "a tree in a pot" (鉢の木, hachi-no-ki?).
The c.1300 rhymed prose essay, Rhymeprose on a Miniature Landscape Garden, by the Japanese Zen monk Kokan Shiren, outlines the aesthetic principles for bonsai, bonseki and garden architecture itself.
The oldest known living bonsai trees are in the collection at Happo-en (a private garden and exclusive restaurant) in Tokyo, Japan, where bonsais are between 400 to 800 years old.