00:00 [Music]
00:09 The art of bonsai is now famous the world over.
00:16 [Music]
00:21 Tiny trees, grown and shaped to express their natural essence,
00:26 kept small enough to fit on a tray.
00:29 [Music]
00:32 But bonsai is only one of the arts developed by the Japanese
00:36 to appreciate nature at home.
00:39 [Music]
00:43 Trays like this, called obon,
00:45 have long been used for carrying food and dishes from kitchen to table.
00:49 [Music]
00:55 Two arts portray the beauty of the Japanese landscape
00:58 by creating miniature scenes on obon trays.
01:02 [Music]
01:05 This is bonkei.
01:07 The art dates back at least 1,400 years.
01:11 [Music]
01:15 The basic contours in bonkei are built using soil.
01:19 [Music]
01:22 Materials like coloured sand.
01:25 [Music]
01:30 Pebbles.
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01:34 And moss are added to express the details of the landscape.
01:39 [Music]
01:41 The whole scene is planned from the beginning to be best viewed from a certain angle.
01:46 [Music]
01:48 The elements aren't laid out in a single plane.
01:51 We aim for a sense of depth to give the viewer the feeling of being right there inside the landscape.
01:57 [Music]
01:59 These dynamic three-dimensional scenes express the vigour of nature.
02:04 [Music]
02:08 The other art based on the obon tray is bonseki.
02:13 Here, landscapes are created using just white sand and rocks.
02:17 [Music]
02:20 After arranging the rocks, the artist builds up the scene by sprinkling white sand.
02:25 [Music]
02:31 One of the most beautiful effects created by sand is that of flowing water.
02:36 [Music]
02:40 In nature, waves are in constant motion.
02:43 The bonseki sand image captures one instant, frozen in time.
02:48 [Music]
02:51 To create the illusion of gently flowing water, feathers are used to brush the sand.
02:56 [Music]
03:00 This allows the creation of delicate, subtle details.
03:04 [Music]
03:10 For more violent waves, a special brush called a hake is used.
03:15 [Music]
03:20 This brush produces the effect of powerful waves in action.
03:24 [Music]
03:26 Waves crashing on rocks, the depth and breadth of the ocean.
03:33 The more deeply we appreciate the actual scene with all our senses,
03:38 the more realistically we can portray it in our art.
03:42 [Music]
03:44 Many people appreciate the way bonseki brings them closer to nature,
03:48 and classes in the art are popular.
03:51 [Music]
03:55 It's changed the way I see the world.
03:58 Now, when I'm on a trip, I'm always looking at the scenery
04:02 and wondering how I could reproduce that view on a train.
04:06 [Music]
04:08 This art created with sand is temporary by nature, not designed to last.
04:13 [Music]
04:17 An appreciation of life's fleeting nature
04:20 has always been at the core of the Japanese sense of beauty.
04:23 [Music]
04:27 Inspired by the beauty of their land, Japanese artists invented unique ways
04:33 [Music]
04:35 to recreate the magnificence of nature in these miniature landscapes.
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