Disclosure policy.

Last updated November 10, 2026

Trust is the only asset an editorial site has. This page states exactly how we earn money, choose products, and use AI — and what we will tell you when any of it changes.

Affiliate relationships

As of November 10, 2026, JAPAN BONSAI EDIT has no active affiliate or paid relationship with any seller, maker or brand. No link on this site currently earns us anything.

We intend to join affiliate programs with specialist bonsai retailers, because commissions on trees and pots bought through our guides are how this site plans to sustain itself. When that happens:

• Pages containing affiliate links will say so in a visible disclosure near the links, in addition to this policy.
• Commissions never change the price you pay.
• Editorial selection comes first: we decide what to recommend, then check whether a program exists — not the reverse.
• Sellers cannot pay for placement, and we do not publish sponsored posts disguised as editorial.

How products are selected

• Every recommendation is presented in three independent paths — Japanese Masterpiece, Local Artisan Choice, First Practice — so readers at different budgets get honest options, not an upsell ladder.
• We state the reason for every aesthetic judgment.
• We do not claim to have reviewed, handled or tested a product unless we actually have. Where we describe a seller, we limit claims to what their published pages state.
• We do not list products whose country of origin is presented as Japanese but cannot be verified.

AI-assisted images

We use AI-generated concept images to show how a tree and pot combination can read — comparisons that would be impossible to photograph without owning every pot in the study. The rules we hold ourselves to:

• Every AI-assisted image is labeled, in the caption or on the image block, as an AI-assisted visualization or concept study.
• Concept images are never presented as photographs of a real product, and never mixed into product listings without labels.
• They are illustrations of an editorial argument, not evidence. The reasoning is always in the text and tables beside them.
• We do not imitate the signed work of living artists or present an AI image as a specific maker's pot.

AI-assisted writing

Articles are drafted with AI assistance and edited by a human editor. Horticultural, legal and factual claims are checked against the cited sources before publication; each article's "About this note" block states its method, publication date and last review date.

What we will never do

• Publish fake reviews or invented first-hand experience.
• Hide a commercial relationship behind an editorial voice.
• Let a seller edit our conclusions.

Operator

JAPAN BONSAI EDIT is operated by AKIMA Inc. (株式会社AKIMA), Japan. Questions about this policy can be raised via the contact route published on our About page.