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The Kokedama: A Japanese Zen Garden in a Ball
Get 20% off your first Kokedama plant at Handspun Botanics, using the code JAPAN20.
It was on a cold, dreary October morning when a sharp knock on the door brought me rushing down the steps and fumbling with the lock. The door opened to reveal the back of the postman with a neat little package by my foot — a small box stood upright, with a “Fragile” sticker pasted upon it. I smiled as the minimalistic “H | S” logo indicated to me what it was — my kokedama from Hand Spun Botanics had arrived! I was so excited.
What is a kokedama, you ask? From the Japanese words “koke”, meaning moss, and “tama”, meaning ball, a kokedama literally means moss ball. It is usually an ornamental plant with its roots wrapped in a ball of soil, covered by moss, and sometimes bound together by twine, suspended in the air as a hanging decoration. Essentially, it is the epitome of wabi-sabi, the Japanese idea of seeing beauty in transience, simplicity and imperfection. It is basically like having a Japanese Zen garden in your hands, in the form of a ball.
Where did the kokedama originate?
You may be familiar with bonsai, the Japanese art of growing ornamental trees in beautifully displayed, often ceramic, pots, where the plants appear as…
