BON - shallow tray/pot
SAI - tree
Bonsai, literally translated means "a tree in a pot". The basic principle behind the art is that certain types of trees can be dwarfed by growing them in small flat containers.
Bon
Sai
Bonsai is a Japanese word the literal meaning being Bon which means 'tray' and Sai which means 'planted' - thus we have "planted in a tray".
Bon~ (A tray or Container) Sai~ (Noun- To grow)
The art of Bonsai does not merely decrease the size of a tree to fit and be planted in a pot, but rather attempts to increase and enhance the potted tree, expanding it's natural beauty, ...
BON-TRAY Includes "hachi"
On the right side are the radicals for tree (already seen above) and the line through it at the bottom usually means one - so single tree? On the left is the kanji for "gold" ...
See Bon.
Han-Kengai
The "semi-cascade" bonsai style. One of the basic styles. The trunk grows straight for a while and then cascades down at a slight angle, not as dramatic as in the cascade style. (See also section Bonsai styles in Encyclopedia).
Terms often heard when speaking about min'yō are ondo, bushi, bon uta, and komori uta. An ondo generally describes any folk song with a distinctive swing that may be heard as 2/4 time rhythm (though performers usually do not group beats).
From the Japanese words, "bon" and "sai" meaning "pot" and "plant." Bonsai, however is much more than simply a pot in a plant. There are numerous styles of bonsai, all which have different criteria for evaluation.
The Chinese pen tsai (pot tree) became the Japanese bon sai (same translation).
The oldest authentic record of bonsai is pictures of dwarfed trees and herbaceous plants in containers in a noted scroll written in 1310.
 See also: Japanese, Form, Style, Tree, Plant
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