Some bonsai have been cared for for decades, or even centuries, and may have passed through the hands of many different people.
So who does such a bonsai actually belong to?
First, there is still a current owner. A bonsai may belong to an individual, be inherited within a family, be bought and sold, or be owned by a bonsai nursery or museum. An old bonsai is not somehow “owned by no one.”
However, with bonsai, it is useful to separate who owns the tree now from who created the form we see today.
Unlike a painting or sculpture, a bonsai does not simply reach a finished state and stop changing. The tree continues to live. It must be pruned, repotted, shaped, and cared for over time.
Because of this, the work of several generations can be layered into a single old bonsai. One person may have developed the trunk, another may have shaped the branches, and someone else may have spent decades keeping the tree healthy. The current owner may not be the person who created every part of its present appearance.
The Japan Bonsai Association also has a registration system intended to help preserve especially valuable bonsai over the long term. Old bonsai can be cared for across many years and eventually passed on to future generations.
Among people who care for very old bonsai, some also feel that the tree is not simply something that belongs entirely to them, but a living tree entrusted to them by earlier generations and now placed in their care.
A bonsai that is several hundred years old may live far longer than any one person. For some owners, that creates a sense that they are only one temporary caretaker in the tree’s much longer history, with a responsibility to pass it on in good condition if possible.
Of course, not everyone involved in bonsai feels this way to the same degree. Some people strongly see a bonsai as their own work, while others place more emphasis on inheritance and continuity.
So even a bonsai that has been trained over several generations still has a current owner.
But if you ask, “Whose work is it?” the answer becomes less simple. With an old bonsai, the work of previous caretakers and the work of the present owner can exist together in the same living tree, continuing into the future.
References
- Japan Bonsai Association, Association Information / Important Bonsai Registration System
- Omiya Bonsai Art Museum and Omiya Bonsai Village, Bonsai Nursery Information
