Glider

I don't think it's strictly necessary to use Japanese terms, but i do think some of them, with frequent use, have come to describe certain concepts better than the English equivalents (more by association than literal translation).

For example, 'surface roots' in English is very literal and, at least to my mind, doesn't really convey the concept of 'powerfully grasping the soil like a lion's paw' that 'nebari' does. I know that's not what nebari translates as, but it is what the word has come to evoke in my mind.

It's the same for 'jin' which evokes more in my mind than 'dead branch', and 'sharimiki', which, again, in my mind, conveys more than 'driftwood' or 'dead trunk'.

To me, these terms evoke more than their literal translation, and that's probably because I don't speak Japanese and so don't know what the literal translations are. So, for me, I think they have a use in bonsai, but that's just a personal thing and so is subject to my own meaning and interpretations.

For example, I'll use 'surface roots' when I'm talking about development and processes (i.e. things I'm doing to improve their form), but once the work is done and it's all looking good, it becomes a 'nebari'. That is, nebari in my mind, has become a 'state' or stage of development; something to aim for rather than just a name for surface roots.

But, as I say, that's just me.

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