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This is the first time we’ve ever seen a levitating bonsai.

The traditional art of bonsai, miniature trees grown in containers, was brought to Japan from China over a thousand years ago, and its basic elements, a bon (shallow pot) and sai (plant), have remained largely unchanged ever since. Now, a Japanese company is revolutionising the art with a futuristic new product called the Air Bonsai, which takes the miniature trees off the ground and up into the air, where they float like magic, rotating over an “energy base”.

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Hoshinchu, the design team behind the project, has re-worked the concept of nature in miniature to include elements of the galaxy in their marketing of the product. The design includes two main elements, an “energy base” and the floating bonsai, either potted or growing from a ball of moss, which is known as the “little star”.

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It might look like an optical illusion but it works due to magnets in the porcelain energy base. The rotating mechanism inside runs on an AC adaptor, allowing the plant to rotate slowly while it floats in mid-air.

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The company has enlisted the help of Kickstarter to get their project off the ground, with pledges starting at US$1 and going all the way up to $10,000, for a package that offers the highest quality bonsai and a factory tour, including travel expenses and accommodation. Currently, they’ve raised US$51,871 of their $80,000 goal, with 37 days to go and 229 supporters backing the project.

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This is all well and good, but you have to see the bonsai in motion, balanced in the air, to really understand how awesome this is! We’ve embedded one of their Kickstarter videos below so you can do just that!

To learn more about the creation of Air Bonsai or back the project if you’re interested, be sure to stop by the company’s Kickstarter campaign page!

Source and Images: Kickstarter/Air Bonsai (h/t Japaaan)