Saikei and Bonkei

Saikei (栽景^?) literally translates as "planted landscape".^[1][2] It is the art of creating tray landscapes that combine miniature living trees with soil, rocks, water, and related vegetation (like ground cover) in a single tray or similar container.^[3]

A saikei landscape will remind the viewer of a natural location through its overall topography, choice of ground materials, and the species used in its plantings.

Saikei is a descendant of the Japanese arts of bonsai, bonseki, and bonkei, and is related less directly to similar miniature-landscape arts like the Chinese penjing and the Vietnamese hòn non bộ.

Saikei differs from the related Japanese arts forms in some key ways. According to Lew Buller, Toshio Kawamoto (the founder of the saikei form) "was adamant that his living landscapes were not bonsai",^[4] citing saikei rules such as the mandatory use of stones, and the placement of trees and roots above the rim of the tray. Bonsai uses stones as the base for a tree or trees in the root-over-rock style (Sekijoju) and growing-in-a-rock (Ishizuke) styles, but does not form landscapes from mixed stones and soil. The shape of the ground is very important in saikei, where it is of reduced or non-existent importance in bonsai. In general, saikei concentrates on the evocation of a natural living landscape, rather than on the character of individual trees as emphasized in bonsai.

Bonkei (盆景) is Japanese for "tray landscape".^[1] A bonkei is a three-dimensional depiction of a landscape in miniature, portrayed using mainly dry materials like rock, papier-mâché or cement mixtures, and sand in a shallow tray. Although bonkei materials are usually dry, flowing water and seasides are often depicted, with varying colors of gravel or sand making up the land and the water elements. A bonkei may also contain miniature figures of people, animals, buildings, bridges, and other common outdoor items.

The goal of the form is to provide an aesthetically pleasing miniature landscape for display and contemplation.

Robert Behme says that bonkei differs from saikei in that a bonkei "is essentially a dry landscape, and living plants are rarely used; a saikei depends exclusively on living plants for effect." ^[2] As a result of this key difference, many bonkei specimens can last a long time with no maintenance, where a saikei requires frequent tending and a favorable environment for growth of the trees it contains.