Profile
Tomoki Katsumura / Jun Yokoyama
Tomoki Katsumura My journey with bonsai began during the COVID-19 stay-at-home period. At first, I struggled—even letting my first trees wither—which made me realize just how challenging it was. Over time, however, I became deeply captivated by the art of shaping living nature and bringing my own vision of the grand natural world to life in a small pot. To share the profound appeal of bonsai with people around the world, I am currently developing "JinShari," an AI-powered bonsai management app.
Jun Yokoyama "Wabi-sabi," "the aesthetics of subtraction," "a uniquely Japanese art"—there is no shortage of words used to describe bonsai, but none of them ever felt truly convincing to me. Wanting to uncover how and why bonsai came to be framed in these terms, I am tracing its intellectual history from the Meiji period onward, exploring how modern discourse shaped our perception of this living tradition.
What We Aim to Achieve Through This Project
Our Vision
Our vision is to make bonsai—an art form loved around the globe—the gateway to the vast world of Japanese culture.
A Global Community of Bonsai Lovers
To date, we have visited and interviewed approximately 50 bonsai enthusiasts, growers, and professionals across Japan, Germany, the Czech Republic, the United States, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Through these journeys, we witnessed firsthand how vibrant and passionate local bonsai communities have become across the globe.
Most people enter the world of bonsai drawn by the sheer visual beauty of the trees. This speaks to the immediate, standalone allure of the art form. Yet beyond this visual appeal lies an even deeper, largely untapped dimension.
Bonsai as an Intersection of Japanese Culture
Bonsai is a "living art." It is the practice of capturing the grandeur of nature within a single small pot, weaving beauty over long spans of time through a continuous dialogue with the tree.
This mastery of "space" and relationship with "time" are not unique to bonsai alone. The curation of utensils in the tea ceremony (Chanoyu), Ikebana (flower arrangement), Japanese gardens, Haiku—numerous traditional Japanese arts have explored these very same questions in their own ways. Throughout history, bonsai evolved through constant mutual influence with these neighboring arts.
In other words, bonsai is not an isolated tradition; it is a cultural intersection where many artistic philosophies meet. By connecting with these roots, we believe people can experience the art of bonsai on a vastly deeper level.
Bridging the Cultural Gap
However, there is a clear gap between the art and its cultural roots:
・A domestic survey conducted by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs (2021–2022) revealed that only about 29% of practitioners cited "because it is Japanese culture" as their reason for practicing bonsai.
・In our own 2024 survey of a bonsai enthusiast community in the United States, that figure was just 20%.
At present, the rich cultural background of bonsai remains largely unexplored and unknown to practitioners worldwide.
Building a Stepping Stone for Cultural Discovery
Our goal is to create a step-by-step foundation that allows people to step into the cultural richness behind bonsai.
Ultimately, we hope to spark a virtuous cycle: an environment where cultivating a bonsai naturally inspires people worldwide to explore the broader realms of Japanese culture and aesthetic philosophy.
How We Plan to Achieve This
Combining Generative AI with Aesthetic History
We combine two distinct fields of expertise from the University of Tokyo:
・Tomoki Katsumura (Ph.D. Student in Agricultural and Resource Economics, The University of Tokyo): Developing aftercare support for exported bonsai through "JinShari," an app powered by generative AI.
・Jun Yokoyama (Ph.D. Student in Aesthetics and Intellectual History of Bonsai, The University of Tokyo): Conducting historical and philosophical research on modern Japanese aesthetic discourse and bonsai thought.
Why an App? Bringing Culture into the Hands-on Moment
While books and exhibitions are traditional ways to share culture, the moment enthusiasts connect most deeply with a tree is during daily care—watering, observing the branches, and contemplating the next cut. This is why we chose the medium of a mobile app.
By encountering cultural insights and philosophical questions during everyday maintenance, growers experience these ideas not as abstract theory, but as tangible, lived reality.
Through this, we aim to create a two-way creative loop:
1. From Bonsai to Broader Japanese Culture: Deepening appreciation for adjacent traditional arts.
2. From Japanese Culture to Bonsai Styling: Drawing inspiration from traditional aesthetics to shape and style living trees.
Articulating Bonsai Aesthetics into Clear, Objective Language
The critical foundation for this approach is translating bonsai aesthetics—often discussed only through intuitive or vague impressions—into clear, objective language.
Jun Yokoyama's previous research has shown that as modern bonsai was established as a "fine art" (from the Meiji era onward), it became closely tied to rhetoric emphasizing Japanese spirituality—yet the origins and meanings of these terms were widely adopted without rigorous examination (Yokoyama, 2026).
Today, discussions of bonsai often fall back on catchphrases like "wabi-sabi" or "the aesthetics of subtraction" without explaining what they truly mean in practice. By tracing primary historical sources to uncover when, by whom, and in what context these concepts were linked to bonsai, we are uncovering concrete connections between bonsai and neighboring cultural traditions.
Rethinking Space, Time, and Spirit
What were concepts like "negative space" (yohaku) and "subtraction" (hikizan) actually aiming to achieve in the physical styling of a tree? How were temporal and philosophical concepts like wabi-sabi and mujo (impermanence) embodied in living form?
By rigorously examining these questions against primary sources and conducting comparative studies with adjacent Japanese arts and aesthetic theories, we aim to build an evidence-based foundation for understanding the true depth of bonsai.
What Is the Core Research Topic of This Project?
Bridging Humanities and Data Science
This project is a pioneering challenge in Digital Humanities—analyzing and visualizing humanities materials (historical texts and archival imagery) as data. By doing so, we aim to transform bonsai aesthetics and philosophy, which have long been discussed only intuitively, into clear, structured, and articulable language.
We are carrying out this research and social implementation across three distinct phases:
【Phase 1】 How Was Bonsai Historically Discussed? — Analyzing ~300 Archival Magazines
We will analyze approximately 300 specialized bonsai magazines published in the early 20th century.
・Text Mining & Semantic Network Analysis: Visualizing word co-occurrences to map historical discourse and aesthetic vocabulary.
・Image Semantic Segmentation: Quantifying the geometric feature values of historical tree forms from published photographs.
By combining textual analysis (words) and computer vision (visual forms), we will build a foundational dataset capturing how modern perspectives on bonsai were formed.
【Phase 2】 What Does Bonsai Share, and What Makes It Unique? — Comparative Analysis with Neighboring Arts
We will expand our analysis to modern cultural history literature across related Japanese arts, including Tea Ceremony (Chanoyu), Ikebana (flower arrangement), Japanese Gardens, Nihonga (Japanese painting), Literature & Haiku, and Noh Theater.
・Structured Metadata Analysis & Decision Tree Modeling: Identifying shared aesthetic concepts and divergence points between bonsai and other cultural traditions.
This comparative approach will pinpoint the core structural and conceptual identity of bonsai within the broader landscape of Japanese culture.
【Phase 3】 Delivering Culture to Daily Care — Integration into the "JinShari" App
We will integrate the findings from Phases 1 and 2 with AI technology to create a comprehensive cultural database inside "JinShari," our bonsai management app.
As growers carry out their daily care—watering, pruning, and observing—the app will naturally connect their hands-on practice with the underlying philosophy and aesthetic principles of Japanese culture, delivering an unprecedented cultural experience to enthusiasts worldwide.
Why we need your support
Rooting Bonsai in Global Culture Beyond a Passing Trend
To ensure that the worldwide interest in bonsai is not just a passing trend, but a deeply rooted tradition for generations to come, we must examine its underlying culture through aesthetics and intellectual history—and articulate it in language that resonates globally. This conviction is what led us to launch this crowdfunding campaign.
We believe the true joy of engaging with culture lies in discovering, imagining, and expressing the philosophy and stories behind what meets the eye. Starting with bonsai's global community, we aim to build a cultural solidarity where diverse people around the world can actively interpret and discuss the profound depth of Japanese arts.
Between Imagination and Objective Perspective
Japanese aesthetic philosophy has often relied on the viewer's imagination, as captured in Zeami’s famous Noh treatise: "If it is hidden, it is a flower" (Hisureba Hana). Yet Zeami also emphasized the necessity of "Riken no Ken" (the detached view)—the discipline of observing one’s own art from an objective, external perspective.
Our research is precisely an effort to bring this objective clarity to bonsai aesthetics, which have long been left to intuition alone. We want to enable anyone, anywhere, to envision the vast expanse of nature, time, and spirit held within a single small pot.
How Your Support Will Be Used
Your generous contributions will directly fund the entire process from research to real-world implementation, including:
・Collecting archival materials and primary historical literature
・Data analysis (text mining and computer vision)
・Publishing academic findings and international outreach
・Implementing the cultural database into the "JinShari" app
To pioneer a new future for bonsai and Japanese culture together, we sincerely ask for your warm support and partnership.
Recommender's comment
Yo Hayakawa
Through my research in Nihonga (Japanese painting) and art education, I have long reflected on the importance of passing down traditional Japanese views of nature and aesthetics to future generations.
From this perspective, I find this project to be an ambitious and inspiring endeavor that re-envisions bonsai not merely as a culture of physical form, but as a vital gateway to deciphering the underlying philosophy and spirituality of Japanese culture.
Furthermore, combining generative AI with digital humanities to create new avenues for learning and global cultural outreach holds immense potential. I sincerely recommend this project, with high hopes that it will allow people across the world to connect with the profound depth of Japanese culture and spark new cross-cultural dialogues.
Osamu Sakura
What Tomoki Katsumura and Jun Yokoyama are attempting here is essentially the globalization of bonsai powered by generative AI and big data.
What makes this truly remarkable is how they take bonsai as their starting point to encompass Japanese culture as a whole, striving to objectively articulate those subtle nuances—the elusive intricacies and wabi-sabi—that often seem to defy verbal description. While it might appear understated at first glance, this is an extraordinarily ambitious, bold project that cuts right to the very core of what culture is.
Please lend your enthusiastic support to this daring challenge led by two digital natives brimming with love for bonsai!
Fumiya Taguchi
This research focuses its gaze on the unseen dimensions of existence through the medium of bonsai, proposing to articulate them into discourse through innovative methods powered by technology.
Furthermore, their commitment to communicating the insights gained from this work—broadly and accurately to an international audience—reflects a research approach that will undoubtedly capture the interest of many who are drawn not only to bonsai, but to Japanese culture as a whole.
What truly lies hidden beneath the philosophy of 'Hisureba Hana' ('If it is hidden, it is a flower')? Without ever detaching themselves from the living tree, I eagerly anticipate the emergent realm of collective wisdom that will surface from their deep and rigorous inquiry.
Project timeline
| Date | Plans |
|---|---|
September 2026 |
【Phase 1】 Data Collection: Gathering archival data from ~300 specialized bonsai magazines from the early 20th century |
December 2026 |
【Phase 1】 Text Analysis: Text Mining & Semantic Network Analysis on historical bonsai discourse |
March 2027 |
【Phase 1】 Image Analysis: Image Semantic Segmentation to quantify historical tree forms |
May 2027 |
【Phase 2】 Data Collection: Gathering historical literature on adjacent modern Japanese arts (Tea Ceremony, Ikebana, Gardens, Nihonga, Noh, Haiku) |
August 2027 |
【Phase 2】 Text Analysis: Text Mining & Semantic Network Analysis across adjacent cultural domains |
| View more research plans | |
November 2027 |
【Phase 2】 Image Analysis: Image Semantic Segmentation across visual cultural archives |
February 2028 |
【Phase 2】 Comparative Modeling: Structured Metadata Analysis & Decision Tree Modeling to identify shared and unique aesthetic concepts |
September 2028 |
【Phase 3】 Social Implementation: Launching the cultural knowledge features within the "JinShari" bonsai management app |
Pledge Rewards
We will send you a digital PDF copy of the official research report detailing the findings of this project.
Research Report (PDF)
scheduled date details
| return | scheduled date |
|---|---|
| 研究報告レポートの送付 | April, 2027 |
3 supporters are supporting with this reward. （No quantity limit）
Your name will be acknowledged in the official research report.
Name Listed in Research Report (PDF) / Research Report (PDF)
scheduled date details
| return | scheduled date |
|---|---|
| 研究報告レポートにお名前掲載 | April, 2027 |
| 研究報告レポートの送付 | April, 2027 |
0 supporters are supporting with this reward. （No quantity limit）
"Streaming access to the recorded video archive of the exclusive lecture: ""Decoding the Aesthetics of Bonsai through Digital Humanities (tentative title)"".
Note: The session will be conducted primarily in Japanese; however, English presentation slides will be provided, and questions in English are fully welcomed. In addition, English subtitles/summaries will be made available for the archive video."
Exclusive Lecture: Archive Video Access / Research Report (PDF) / Name Listed in Research Report (PDF)
scheduled date details
| return | scheduled date |
|---|---|
| 「限定講義動画」アーカイブ視聴権 | July, 2027 |
| 研究報告レポートの送付 | April, 2027 |
| 研究報告レポートにお名前掲載 | April, 2027 |
0 supporters are supporting with this reward. （No quantity limit）
"Live online participation ticket for the exclusive lecture ""Decoding the Aesthetics of Bonsai through Digital Humanities (tentative title)"". You will have the opportunity to ask questions directly to the research team (advance questions are accepted if you are unable to attend live).
Note: The session will be conducted primarily in Japanese; however, English presentation slides will be provided, and questions in English are fully welcomed. In addition, English subtitles/summaries will be made available for the archive video."
Exclusive Lecture: Live Online Attendance & Q&A / Research Report (PDF) / Name Listed in Research Report (PDF) / Exclusive Lecture: Archive Video Access
scheduled date details
| return | scheduled date |
|---|---|
| 「限定講義動画」生配信オンライン参加権 | July, 2027 |
| 研究報告レポートの送付 | April, 2027 |
| 研究報告レポートにお名前掲載 | April, 2027 |
| 「限定講義動画」アーカイブ視聴権 | July, 2027 |
0 supporters are supporting with this reward. （No quantity limit）
Streaming access to the recorded archive of the ""Online Bonsai Appreciation Session"", bridging research insights with practical bonsai aesthetics and evaluation.
Note: The session will be conducted primarily in Japanese; however, English presentation slides will be provided, and questions in English are fully welcomed. In addition, English subtitles/summaries will be made available for the archive video.
Online Bonsai Appreciation Session: Archive Video Access / Research Report (PDF) / Name Listed in Research Report (PDF) / Exclusive Lecture: Archive Video Access / Exclusive Lecture: Live Online Attendance & Q&A
scheduled date details
| return | scheduled date |
|---|---|
| 「オンライン盆栽鑑賞会」アーカイブ視聴権 | February, 2028 |
| 研究報告レポートの送付 | April, 2027 |
| 研究報告レポートにお名前掲載 | April, 2027 |
| 「限定講義動画」アーカイブ視聴権 | July, 2027 |
| 「限定講義動画」生配信オンライン参加権 | July, 2027 |
0 supporters are supporting with this reward. （No quantity limit）
Live online participation in the ""Online Bonsai Appreciation Session"", featuring direct dialogue with the researchers and a personalized review/critique of your own bonsai tree (upon request + archive access included).
Note: The session will be conducted primarily in Japanese; however, English presentation slides will be provided, and questions in English are fully welcomed. In addition, English subtitles/summaries will be made available for the archive video.
Online Bonsai Appreciation Session: Live Interactive Access & Tree Review / Research Report (PDF) / Name Listed in Research Report (PDF) / Exclusive Lecture: Archive Video Access / Exclusive Lecture: Live Online Attendance & Q&A / Online Bonsai Appreciation Session: Archive Video Access
scheduled date details
| return | scheduled date |
|---|---|
| 【「オンライン盆栽鑑賞会」生配信オンライン参加券 | February, 2028 |
| 研究報告レポートの送付 | April, 2027 |
| 研究報告レポートにお名前掲載 | April, 2027 |
| 「限定講義動画」アーカイブ視聴権 | July, 2027 |
| 「限定講義動画」生配信オンライン参加権 | July, 2027 |
| 「オンライン盆栽鑑賞会」アーカイブ視聴権 | February, 2028 |
0 supporters are supporting with this reward. （No quantity limit）
Your name will be formally credited in the Acknowledgments section of the published academic research paper.
/ Research Report (PDF) / Name Listed in Research Report (PDF) / Exclusive Lecture: Archive Video Access / Exclusive Lecture: Live Online Attendance & Q&A / Online Bonsai Appreciation Session: Archive Video Access / Online Bonsai Appreciation Session: Live Interactive Access & Tree Review
scheduled date details
| return | scheduled date |
|---|---|
| 論文謝辞にお名前掲載 | September, 2028 |
| 研究報告レポートの送付 | April, 2027 |
| 研究報告レポートにお名前掲載 | April, 2027 |
| 「限定講義動画」アーカイブ視聴権 | July, 2027 |
| 「限定講義動画」生配信オンライン参加権 | July, 2027 |
| 「オンライン盆栽鑑賞会」アーカイブ視聴権 | February, 2028 |
| 【「オンライン盆栽鑑賞会」生配信オンライン参加券 | February, 2028 |
0 supporters are supporting with this reward. （No quantity limit）
An exclusive 60-minute online seminar conducted for your organization on topics such as "Japanese Culture & Bonsai Aesthetics" or "The Global Expansion of Bonsai & Technology".
[Corporate Exclusive] Dedicated Online Seminar Hosting Rights / Research Report (PDF) / Name Listed in Research Report (PDF) / Exclusive Lecture: Archive Video Access / Exclusive Lecture: Live Online Attendance & Q&A / Online Bonsai Appreciation Session: Archive Video Access / Online Bonsai Appreciation Session: Live Interactive Access & Tree Review
scheduled date details
| return | scheduled date |
|---|---|
| 【法人限定】オンラインセミナー開催権 | September, 2027 |
| 研究報告レポートの送付 | April, 2027 |
| 研究報告レポートにお名前掲載 | April, 2027 |
| 「限定講義動画」アーカイブ視聴権 | July, 2027 |
| 「限定講義動画」生配信オンライン参加権 | July, 2027 |
| 「オンライン盆栽鑑賞会」アーカイブ視聴権 | February, 2028 |
| 【「オンライン盆栽鑑賞会」生配信オンライン参加券 | February, 2028 |
| 論文謝辞にお名前掲載 | September, 2028 |
0 supporters are supporting with this reward. （No quantity limit）
Your name/organization name, logo, and official URL will be featured on the official website of the bonsai care app "JinShari" (specific details and layout to be discussed and agreed upon prior to publication).
Official Supporting Partner / Research Report (PDF) / Name Listed in Research Report (PDF) / Exclusive Lecture: Archive Video Access / Exclusive Lecture: Live Online Attendance & Q&A / Online Bonsai Appreciation Session: Archive Video Access / Online Bonsai Appreciation Session: Live Interactive Access & Tree Review / / [Corporate Exclusive] Dedicated Online Seminar Hosting Rights
scheduled date details
| return | scheduled date |
|---|---|
| 協賛サポーター枠 | January, 2027 |
| 研究報告レポートの送付 | April, 2027 |
| 研究報告レポートにお名前掲載 | April, 2027 |
| 「限定講義動画」アーカイブ視聴権 | July, 2027 |
| 「限定講義動画」生配信オンライン参加権 | July, 2027 |
| 「オンライン盆栽鑑賞会」アーカイブ視聴権 | February, 2028 |
| 【「オンライン盆栽鑑賞会」生配信オンライン参加券 | February, 2028 |
| 論文謝辞にお名前掲載 | September, 2028 |
| 【法人限定】オンラインセミナー開催権 | September, 2027 |
0 supporters are supporting with this reward. （No quantity limit）
"Your name will be credited in the upcoming published book, and a physical copy of the published book will be delivered to you upon release.
Note: Book shipping is available within Japan only."
/ Research Report (PDF) / Name Listed in Research Report (PDF) / Exclusive Lecture: Archive Video Access / Exclusive Lecture: Live Online Attendance & Q&A / Online Bonsai Appreciation Session: Archive Video Access / Online Bonsai Appreciation Session: Live Interactive Access & Tree Review / / Official Supporting Partner / [Corporate Exclusive] Dedicated Online Seminar Hosting Rights
scheduled date details
| return | scheduled date |
|---|---|
| 書籍にお名前掲載・献本 | March, 2029 |
| 研究報告レポートの送付 | April, 2027 |
| 研究報告レポートにお名前掲載 | April, 2027 |
| 「限定講義動画」アーカイブ視聴権 | July, 2027 |
| 「限定講義動画」生配信オンライン参加権 | July, 2027 |
| 「オンライン盆栽鑑賞会」アーカイブ視聴権 | February, 2028 |
| 【「オンライン盆栽鑑賞会」生配信オンライン参加券 | February, 2028 |
| 論文謝辞にお名前掲載 | September, 2028 |
| 協賛サポーター枠 | January, 2027 |
| 【法人限定】オンラインセミナー開催権 | September, 2027 |
0 supporters are supporting with this reward. （No quantity limit）
"① Official Website Credits (Around April 2027):
Your name/company name, logo, and official URL will be prominently featured on the official website of the bonsai care app ""JinShari"" upon prior consultation.
② Official Press Release Feature (Around January 2027):
You will be featured as a Lead Supporting Partner (including name/logo acknowledgment) in our official press release distributed across major media networks upon project success.
③ Custom Bonsai Proposal & Panel [For residents of Japan only] (Around March 2028):
Through a personalized consultation session, we will propose a bonsai tailored to your tastes (individuals) or corporate philosophy (corporations) and produce a custom display panel.
※ Note: Actual bonsai trees are not included in this reward. For residents in Japan, we can assist in connecting you with professional bonsai nurseries upon request.
※ Note: The bonsai proposal and panel delivery (③) are available for residents in Japan only. Website and press release features (① & ②) are open globally."
Official Premium Supporting Partner / Research Report (PDF) / Name Listed in Research Report (PDF) / Exclusive Lecture: Archive Video Access / Exclusive Lecture: Live Online Attendance & Q&A / Online Bonsai Appreciation Session: Archive Video Access / [Corporate Exclusive] Dedicated Online Seminar Hosting Rights / / Official Supporting Partner / / Online Bonsai Appreciation Session: Live Interactive Access & Tree Review
scheduled date details
| return | scheduled date |
|---|---|
| プレミアム協賛サポーター枠 | January, 2027 |
| 研究報告レポートの送付 | April, 2027 |
| 研究報告レポートにお名前掲載 | April, 2027 |
| 「限定講義動画」アーカイブ視聴権 | July, 2027 |
| 「限定講義動画」生配信オンライン参加権 | July, 2027 |
| 「オンライン盆栽鑑賞会」アーカイブ視聴権 | February, 2028 |
| 【法人限定】オンラインセミナー開催権 | September, 2027 |
| 論文謝辞にお名前掲載 | September, 2028 |
| 協賛サポーター枠 | January, 2027 |
| 書籍にお名前掲載・献本 | March, 2029 |
| 【「オンライン盆栽鑑賞会」生配信オンライン参加券 | February, 2028 |
0 supporters are supporting with this reward. （No quantity limit）
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Name Listed in Research Report (PDF) and others
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Exclusive Lecture: Live Online Attendance & Q&A and others
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Online Bonsai Appreciation Session: Archive Video Access and others
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Online Bonsai Appreciation Session: Live Interactive Access & Tree Review and others
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Name Acknowledged in Academic Paper and others
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[Corporate Exclusive] Dedicated Online Seminar Hosting Rights and others
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Name Listed in Published Book + Complimentary Book Copy and others
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academist Prize 2nd adopted
