# Bonsai Kitten Bonsai Kitten was a hoax website launched in December 2000 that claimed kittens could be grown inside glass jars to mold them into specific shapes, like bonsai trees. Created by an MIT graduate student using the alias "Dr. Michael Wong Chang," the site triggered FBI investigations, mass email campaigns, and outrage from animal rights organizations, making it one of the early internet's most infamous examples of a successful troll. ## Origin BonsaiKitten.com went live in December 2000, built by an unnamed graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology[3]. The student operated under the pseudonym "Dr. Michael Wong Chang" and hosted the site on MIT's own servers, running off his campus computer[3]. Beyond the website, Chang organized satirical in-person events at MIT, including attempts to "convert" people to "Team Bonsai Kitten" and tutorials on stuffing kittens into jars[3]. The name riffed on bonsai, the Japanese art of growing miniature trees in small containers and shaping them as they grow[3]. Chang later admitted he expected people to recognize the satire immediately, adding that "from our incoming mail, it seems far fewer than 1 percent of respondents understand"[3]. - **Platform:** BonsaiKitten.com (MIT student server) - **Creator:** "Dr. Michael Wong Chang" (MIT graduate student, pseudonym) - **Date:** 2000 ## Overview BonsaiKitten.com presented itself as a guide to the "long lost art" of growing kittens inside glass containers[3]. The homepage opened with orientalist language about Western fascination with Far Eastern customs like tattoos, martial arts, and miniature sculpture, then pitched the idea that bonsai techniques could be applied to living animals[3]. The site featured several sections: a "Method" page explaining that week-old kittens have skeletons soft enough to "bounce if thrown" and would conform to the shape of a glass bottle; a "Gallery" with four images of supposed bonsai kittens at various stages; and a "Sales" page offering live bonsai kittens and DIY supplies, with no actual way to buy anything[3]. A guestbook collected visitor reactions, many of which were outraged complaints, though plenty were clearly jokes[3]. Later updates added fake "research" claiming cat litter causes brain damage[3]. The concept drew a loose parallel to real-world practices. Japan's square watermelons, grown inside glass boxes to make them easier to store and ship, showed that living things can be molded by containers[1]. The site's homepage also referenced Chinese foot binding as an example of reshaping living organisms[3]. But unlike watermelons, cramming a kitten in a jar would kill it long before any "molding" could occur, as Snopes pointed out[3]. ## How It Spread The backlash was almost instant. Visitors forwarded the URL to animal rights organizations, begging them to intervene. The Humane Society of the United States couldn't determine if the site was real but called for it to be shut down regardless[3]. The ASPCA said it was "horrified," and PETA called the joke "inappropriate and certainly not funny"[3]. Even groups that identified it as a hoax wanted it removed, fearing it could inspire copycat animal abuse[3]. In early 2001, the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals subpoenaed MIT for information about the site's owners and sent an armed investigator to campus, as the MSPCA is deputized with arrest authority under state law[3]. Spam email chains amplified the outrage massively. These forwarded pleas often targeted non-English speakers who spread them without fully understanding the content[3]. By February 2001, the site had received "tens of thousands" of hate emails[3]. Some hate mail was explicitly racist, with one person writing to Chang, "you are probably Chinese, the most perverse of the Asians"[3]. At least one spam email claimed the site was run by "a Japanese" and that bonsai kittens were a popular fashion item in Asia[3]. The site sat alongside other notorious early-2000s shock sites like Rotten.com in the public conversation about internet content and free speech[2]. Chang's own defense of the site echoed arguments made by other provocateurs of the era: that mainstream media exploits the same kind of disturbing content for entertainment while wrapping it in the "guise of information"[2]. ## How to Use Bonsai Kitten isn't a meme template people remix or reuse. It typically comes up in conversations about classic internet shock sites, hoaxes, and early web trolling. The usual format is someone sharing the URL (or describing the concept) to get a reaction out of an unsuspecting person, similar to other shock site link-drops like Goatse or Tubgirl[4]. The site is often mentioned in lists of "things you should never Google" or discussions about the wildest early internet content. ## Cultural Impact BonsaiKitten.com was a flashpoint in early-2000s debates about internet censorship and free speech. The FBI investigation made it one of the first hoax websites to trigger a federal law enforcement response[3]. The case tested a then-new animal cruelty depictions law and raised questions about whether satirical content fell under its scope[3]. The site also exposed how quickly misinformation spreads through email chains, particularly when the content triggers strong emotions[3]. The spam email campaigns that spread false claims about the site's origins, including racist fabrications about Asian involvement, foreshadowed later patterns of viral misinformation on social media[3]. Alex Boese's inclusion of BonsaiKitten.com in *Hippo Eats Dwarf* helped cement it in the academic and popular history of internet hoaxes[3]. The site is still frequently cited in discussions about early web culture, sitting in the same category as other infamous shock and troll sites of the era like Rotten.com[2]. ## Fun Facts - The site's creator held real-life satirical events on MIT's campus, including "converting" passersby to "Team Bonsai Kitten"[3]. - The concept of growing things in shaped containers is real: Japanese farmers have been growing square watermelons in glass boxes since the early 1980s, selling them for around 10,000 yen (about $83) each[1]. - Less than 1% of people who emailed the site understood it was satire, according to its creator[3]. - The MSPCA sent an armed investigator to MIT's campus as part of their inquiry into the site[3]. - The site's guestbook became a spectacle of its own, with a mix of genuine outrage and people clearly in on the joke[3]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Bonsai Kitten? Bonsai Kitten was a hoax website (BonsaiKitten.com) launched in December 2000 that claimed you could grow kittens inside glass jars to mold them into specific shapes[3]. ### Where did Bonsai Kitten come from? It was created by an MIT graduate student using the pseudonym "Dr. Michael Wong Chang" and originally hosted on MIT's servers[3]. ### What does Bonsai Kitten mean? The name is a play on bonsai, the Japanese art of growing miniature trees in containers. The "joke" was applying the same concept to kittens[3]. ### How do you use Bonsai Kitten? It's not a reusable meme format. People typically reference it in discussions about classic internet shock sites or use it as a link-drop to disturb unsuspecting friends[4]. ### Is Bonsai Kitten still popular? The site is dead and offline, but it is still widely remembered as one of the early internet's most infamous hoax sites[3]. ### Was Bonsai Kitten real? No. The FBI, Snopes, and the Humane Society all debunked it. Snopes noted that the process described would kill a kitten before any "molding" could happen[3]. ### Did the FBI investigate Bonsai Kitten? Yes. In February 2001, the FBI's Boston field office issued a grand jury subpoena to MIT over the site, citing a 1999 animal cruelty depictions law[3]. ### Were any charges filed against the Bonsai Kitten creator? No criminal charges were filed despite the FBI investigation and MSPCA inquiry[3]. ### Why did so many people believe Bonsai Kitten was real? Author Alex Boese argued in *Hippo Eats Dwarf* that the site had "built-in credibility" because real animal cruelty exists, making the concept seem plausible to many[3]. ### What was the connection between Bonsai Kitten and square watermelons? Japanese farmers really do grow watermelons in glass boxes to shape them into cubes[1]. The site's concept loosely paralleled this real practice, but applied (satirically) to live animals[3]. ### How did spam emails make Bonsai Kitten go viral? Forwarded email pleas targeted non-English speakers who spread them without fully understanding the text, amplifying outrage and misinformation globally[3]. ## References 1. [BBC News | ASIA-PACIFIC | Square fruit stuns Japanese shoppers]() 2. [The Internet's public enema No. 1 - Salon.com]() 3. [Bonsai Kitten]() 4. [Bonsai Kitten - Urban Dictionary]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/bonsai-kitten Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library