Bonsai is an art form that requires years of training and centuries of dedication. At the 2012 international bonsai convention, a tree was on sale for 100 million yen, just under a million dollars.

The lock that’s always cracked with a hairpin. The slow walk away from a car engulfed in flames. The bonsai perched on a CEO’s desk on the 45th floor of a Manhattan skyscraper, where he contemplates ...