Japanese garden
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Japanese gardens (日本庭園, nihon teien) are traditional gardens that create miniature idealized landscapes, often in a highly abstract and stylized way.[1] The gardens of the Emperors and nobles were designed for recreation and aesthetic pleasure, while the gardens of Buddhist temples were designed for contemplation and meditation.
Japanese garden styles include karesansui, Japanese rock gardens or zen gardens, which are meditation gardens where white sand replaces water; roji, simple, rustic gardens with teahouses where the Japanese tea ceremony is conducted; kaiyū-shiki-teien, promenade or stroll gardens, where the visitor follows a path around the garden to see carefully-composed landscapes; and tsubo-niwa, small courtyard gardens.
For centuries Japanese gardens were developed under the influences of the Chinese gardens,[2] but gradually Japanese garden designers began to develop their own aesthetics, based on Japanese materials and Japanese culture. By the Edo period, the Japanese garden had its own distinct appearance.[3] Since the end of the 19th century, Japanese gardens have also been adapted to Western settings.
History
Origins of Japanese gardens
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Japanese gardens first appeared on the island of Honshu, the large central island of Japan. In their physical appearance they were influenced by the distinct characteristics of the Honshu landscape; rugged volcanic peaks, narrow valleys and mountain streams with waterfalls and cascades, lakes, and beaches of small stones. They were also influenced by the rich variety of flowers and different species of trees, particularly evergreen trees, on the islands, and by the four distinct seasons in Japan, including hot, wet summers and snowy winters.[4]
Japanese gardens have their roots in Japanese religion of Shinto, with its story of the creation of eight perfect islands, and of the shinchi, the lakes of the gods. Prehistoric Shinto shrines to the kami, the gods and spirits, are found on beaches and in forests all over the island. Sometimes they took the form of of unusual rocks or trees, which were marked with cords of rice fiber, and surrounded with white stones or pebbles, a symbol of purity.[5] The white gravel courtyard became a distinctive feature of Shinto shrines, Imperial Palaces, Buddhist temples, and zen gardens.[6]
Japanese gardens also were strongly influenced by the Chinese philosophy of Daoism, and Amida Buddhism, imported from China in or around 552 A.D.. Daoist legends spoke of five mountainous islands inhabited by the Eight Immortals, who lived in perfect harmony with nature. Each Immortal flew from his mountain home on the back of a crane. The islands themselves were located on the back of an enormous sea turtle. In Japan, the five islands of the Chinese legend became one island, called Horai-zen, or Mount Horai. Replicas of this legendary mountain, the symbol of a perfect world, are a common feature of Japanese gardens, as are rocks representing turtles and cranes. [7]
Japanese gardens in antiquity
The earliest recorded Japanese gardens were the pleasure gardens of the Japanese Emperors and nobles. They are mentioned in several brief passages of Nihon Shoki, the first chronicle of Japanese history, published in 720 A.D. In the spring of the year 74 AD, the chronicle recorded: "The Emperor Keikō put a few carp into a pond, and rejoiced to see them morning and evening". The following year, "The Emperor launched a double-hulled boat in the pond of Ijishi at Ihare, and went aboard with his imperial concubine, and they feasted sumptuously together". And in 486, "The Emperor Kenzō went into the garden and feasted at the edge of a winding stream". [8]
The Chinese garden had a very strong influence on the early Japanese gardens. In or around 552 A.D. Buddhism was officially installed from China, via Korea, into Japan. Between 600 and 612, the Japanese Emperor sent four legations to the Court of the Chinese Sui Dynasty. Between 630 and 838, the Chinese court sent fifteen more legations to the court of the Tang Dynasty. These legations, with more than five hundred members each, included diplomats, scholars, students, Buddhist monks, and translators. They brought back Chinese writing, art objects, and detailed descriptions of Chinese gardens.
In 612, the Empress Suiko had garden built with an artificial mountain, representing Shumi-Sen, or Mount Sumeru, reputed in Hindu and Buddhist legends to be located at the center of the world. During the reign of the same Empress, one of her ministers, Soga no Umako, had a garden built at his palace featuring a lake with several small islands, representing the islands of the Eight Immortals famous in Chinese legends and the Daoist philosophy. This Palace became the property of the Japanese Emperors, was named "The Palace of the Isles", and was mentioned several times in the Man'yōshū, the "Collection of Countless Leaves", the oldest known collection of Japanese poetry.
It appears from the small amount of literary and archeological evidence available that the Japanese gardens of this time were modest versions of the Imperial gardens of the Tang Dynasty, with large lakes scattered with artificial islands and artificial mountains. While they had some Buddhist and Daoist symbolism, they were meant to be pleasure gardens, and places for festivals and celebrations. Like the Chinese Emperors and court, the Japanese aristocrats enjoyed their gardens in small boats with carved dragon heads. [9]
Gardens of the Heian period (794–1185)
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In 794, at the beginning of the Heian Period, the Japanese court moved its capital to Heian-kyō (present-day Kyoto). During this period, there were three different kinds of gardens; palace gardens and the gardens of nobles in the capital; the gardens of villas at the edge of the city; and the gardens of temples.
The architecture of the palaces, residences and gardens in the Heian period followed Chinese practice. Houses and gardens were aligned on a north-south axis, with the residence to the north and the ceremonial buildings and main garden to the south, there were two long wings to the south, like the arms of an armchair, with the garden between them. The gardens featured one or more lakes connected by bridges and winding streams. The south garden of the imperial residences had a specially Japanese feature; a large empty area of white sand or gravel. The Emperor was the chief priest of Japan, and the white sand represented purity, and was a place where the gods could be invited to visit. The area was used for religious ceremonies, and dances for the welcoming of the gods.[10]
The layout of the garden itself was strictly determined according to the principles of traditional Chinese geomancy, or Feng Shui. The first known book on the art of the Japanese garden, the Sakutei-ki, written in the 11th century, said:
"It is a good omen to make the stream arrive from the east, to enter the garden, pass under the house, and then leave from the southeast. In this way, the water of the blue dragon will carry away all the bad spirits from the house toward the white tiger." [11]
The Imperial gardens of the Heian Period were water gardens, where visitors promenaded in elegant lacquered boats, listening to music, viewing the distant mountains, singing, reading poetry, painting, and admiring the scenery of the garden. The social life in the gardens was memorably described in the classic Japanese novel, the Tales of Genji, written in about 1005 by Murasaki Shikibu, a lady-in-waiting to the Empress. The traces of one such artificial lake, Osawa no ike, near the Daikaku-ji Temple in Kyoto, still can be seen. It was built by the Emperor Saga, who ruled from 809 to 823, and was said to be inspired by Dongting Lake in China.[12]
A scaled-down replica of the Kyoto Imperial Palace of 794 A.D., the Heian-jingū, was built in Kyoto in 1895 to celebrate the 1100th birthday of the city. The south garden is famous for its cherry blossoms in spring, and for azaleas in the early summer. The west garden is known for the irises in June, and the large east garden lake recalls the leisurely boating parties of the 8th century.[12]
Near the end of the Heian period a new garden architecture style appeared, created by the followers of Pure Land Buddhism. These were called "Paradise Gardens," built to represent the legendary Paradise of the West, where the Amida Buddha ruled. These were built by noblemen who wanted to assert their power and independence from the Imperial household, which was growing weaker.
The best surviving example of a Paradise Garden is Byōdō-in in Uji,near Kyoto. It was originally the villa of Fujiwara Michinaga, (966-1028), who married his daughters to the sons of the Emperor. After his death, his son transformed the villa into a temple, and in 1053 built the Hall of Phoenix, which still stands. The Hall is built in the traditional style of a Chinese Song Dynasty temple, on an island in the lake. It houses a gilded statue of the Amithaba Buddha, looking to the west. In the lake in front of the temple is a small island of white stones, representing Mount Horai, the home of the Eight Immortals of the Daoists, connected to the temple by a bridge, which symbolized the way to paradise. It was designed for mediation and contemplation, not as a pleasure garden. It was an lesson in Daoist and Buddhist philosophy created with landscape and architecture, and a prototype for future Japanese gardens.[13]
Notable existing or recreated Heian gardens include:
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Osawa lake in Kyoto was part of the old imperial gardens of the Emperor Saga (809-823 AD).
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Model of a residence and garden at Heian-kyō (Kyoto), around 1000 A.D.
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A nineteenth-century scaled-down reconstruction of the Heian-jingū, the first Kyoto Imperial Palace Garden, as it was in 794 A.D..
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Stepping stones in the garden of the first Kyoto Imperial Palace. These stones were originally part of a 16th century bridge over the Kamo River, which was destroyed by an earthquake.[14]
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Recreated garden of the old Kyoto Imperial Palace
Kamakura and Muromachi Periods (1185-1573)
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The weakness of the Emperors and the rivalry of feudal warlords resulted in two civil wars (1156 and 1159), which destroyed most of Kyoto and its gardens. The capital moved to Kamakura, Kanagawa, and then in 1336 back to the Muromachi quarter of Kyoto. The Emperors ruled in name only; real power was held by a military governor, the shogun. During this period, the Government reopened relations with China, which had been broken off almost three hundred years earlier. Japanese monks went again to study in China, and Chinese monks came to Japan, fleeing the Mongol invasions. The monks brought with them a new form of Buddhism, called simply zen, or "meditation". The first zen garden in Japan was built by a Chinese priest in 1251 in Kamakura.[15] Japan enjoyed a renaissance in religion, in the arts, and particularly in gardens.[16]
Many famous temple gardens were built early in this period, including Kinkaku-ji, The Golden Pavilion, built in 1398, and Ginkaku-ji, The Silver Pavilion, built in 1482. In some ways they followed zen principles of spontaneity, extreme simplicity and moderation, but in other ways they were traditional Chinese Song-Dynasty Temples; the upper floors of the Golden Pavilion were covered with gold leaf, and they were surrounded by traditional water gardens.
The most notable garden style invented in this period was the zen garden, or Japanese rock garden. One of the finest examples, and one of the best-known of all Japanese gardens is Ryōan-ji in Kyoto. This garden is just 9 meters wide and 24 meters long. It is composed of white sand carefully raked to suggest water, and fifteen rocks carefully arranged, like small islands. It is meant to be seen from a seated position on the porch of the residence the abbot of the monastery. There have been many debates about what the rocks are supposed to represent, but, as garden historian Gunter Nitschke wrote, "The garden at Ryōan-ji does not symbolize. It does not have the value of representing any natural beauty that can be found in the world, real or mythical. I consider it as an abstract composition of "natural" objects in space, a composition whose function is to incite mediation."[17]
Several of the famous zen gardens of Kyoto were the work of one man; Musō Soseki (1275–1351). He was a monk, a ninth-generation descendant of the Emperor Uda. He was also a formidable court politician, writer and organizer, who armed and financed ships to open trade with China, and founded an organization called the Five Mountains, made up of the most powerful zen monasteries in Kyoto. He was responsible for the building of the zen gardens of Nanzen-ji; Saihō-ji (The Moss Garden); and Tenryū-ji.
Notable gardens of the Kamakura and Muramachi Periods include:
- Kinkaku-ji, (the Golden Pavilion)
- Ginkaku-ji, (the Silver Pavilion)
- Nanzen-ji
- Saihō-ji (The Moss Garden)
- Tenryū-ji
- Daisen-in
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Ginkaku-ji, or the Silver Pavilion, in Kyoto, was (and is) a zen Buddhist temple. (1482).
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The zen rock garden of Ginkaku-ji features a miniature mountain shaped like Mount Fuji.
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The garden of Daisen-in Kyoto. (1513)
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Nanzen-ji garden, Kyoto, built by Musō Soseki. Not all zen gardens were made of rock and sand; monks here contemplated a forest scene.
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Tenryū-ji garden in Kyoto. The Sogen pond, created by Musō Soseki, is one of the few surviving features of the original garden.
The Momoyama Period (1568-1600)
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The Momoyama period was short, just 32 years, and was largely occupied with the wars between the daimyo, the leaders of the feudal Japanese clans. The new centers of power and culture in Japan were the fortified castles of the daimyo, around which new cities and gardens appeared. The characteristic garden of the period featured one or more ponds or lakes next to the main residence, or shoin, not far from the castle. These gardens were meant to be seen from above, from the castle or residence. The daimyos had developed the skills of cutting and and lifting large rocks to build their castles, and they had armies of soldiers to move them. The artificial lakes were surrounded by beaches of small stones and decorated with arrangements of boulders, with natural stone bridges and stepping stones. The gardens of this period combined elements of a promenade garden, meant to be seen from the winding garden paths, with elements of the zen garden, such as artificial mountains, meant to be contemplated from a distance.[18]
The most famous garden of this kind, built in 1592, is situated near the Tokushima castle on the island of Shikoku. Its notable features include a bridge 10.5 meters long made of two natural stones.
Another notable garden of the period still existing is Sanbō-in, rebuilt by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1598 to celebrate the festival of the cherry blossom, and to recreate the splendor of an ancient garden. Three hundred garden-builders worked on the project, digging the lakes and installing seven hundred boulders in a space of 540 square meters. The garden was designed to be seen from the veranda of the main pavilion, or from the "Hall of the Pure View", located on a higher elevation in the garden.
In the east of the garden, on a peninsula, is an arrangement of stones designed to represent the mythical Mount Horai. A wooden bridge leads to an island representing a crane, and a stone bridge connects this island to another representing a tortoise. which is connected by an earth-covered bridge back to the peninsula. The garden also includes a waterfall at the foot of a wooded hill. One characteristic of the Momoyama period garden visible at Sanbō-in is the close proximity of the buildings to the water.[18]
The Momoyama Period also saw the development of the chanoyu (tea ceremony), the chashitsu (teahouse), and the roji (tea garden). Tea had been introduced to Japan from China by Buddhist monks, who used it as a stimulant to keep awake during long periods of meditation. The first great tea master, Sen no Rikyū (1522–1591), defined in the most minute detail the appearance and rules of the tea house and tea garden, following the principle of wabi (侘び) "sober refinement and calm".[19]
Following Sen no Rikyū's rules, the teahouse was supposed to suggest the cottage of a hermit-monk. It was a small and very plain wooden structure, often with a thatched roof, with just enough room inside for two tatami mats. The only decoration allowed inside a scroll with an inscription and a branch of a tree. It did not have a view of the garden.
The garden was also small, and constantly watered to be damp and green. It usually had a cherry tree or elm to bring color in the spring, but otherwise did not have bright flowers or exotic plants that would distract the attention of the visitor. A path led to the entrance of the tea house. Along the path was waiting bench for guests and a privy, and a stone water-basin near the tea house, where the guests rinsed their hands and mouths before entering the tea room through a small, square door called nijiri-guchi, or "crawling-in entrance", which requires bending low to pass through. Sen no Rikyū decreed that the garden should be left unswept for several hours before the ceremony, so that leaves would be scattered in a natural way on the path.[20]
Notable gardens of the period include:
- Tokushima Castle garden on the island of Shikoku.
- Tai-an tea house at Myōki-an Temple in Kyoto, built in 1582 by Sen no Rikyū.
- Sanbō-in at Daigo-ji, in Kyoto Prefecture (1598)
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Garden at the Tokushima Castle, dominated by rocks
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The garden at Daigo-ji (1598) is famous for its cherry blossoms.
Edo Period (1615-1867)
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During the Edo Period, power was won and consolidated by the Tokugawa clan, who became the Shoguns, and moved the capital to Edo, which became Tokyo. During this time, Japan, except for the port of Nagasaki, was virtually closed to foreigners, and Japanese were not allowed to travel to any country except China or the Netherlands. The Emperor remained in Kyoto as a figurehead leader, with authority only over cultural and religious affairs. While the political center of Japan was now Tokyo, Kyoto remained the cultural capital, the center for religion and art. The Shoguns provided the Emperors with little power, but with generous subsidies for building gardens. [21]
The Edo period saw the widespread use of a new kind of Japanese architecture, called Sukiya-zukuri, which means literally "building according to chosen taste". The term first appeared at the end of the 16th century referring to isolated tea houses. It originally applied to the simple country houses of Samouri warriors and Buddhist monks, but in the Edo period it was used in every kind of building, from houses to palaces.
The Sukiya style was used in the most famous garden of the period, the Katsura Imperial Villa in Kyoto. The buildings were built in a very simple, undecorated style, a prototype for future Japanese architecture. They opened up onto the garden, so that the garden seemed entirely part of the building. Whether the visitor was inside or outside of the building, he always had a feeling he was in the center of nature. The garden buildings were arranged so that were always seen from a diagonal, rather than straight on. This arrangement had the poetic name ganko, which meant literally "a formation of wild geese in flight."[22]
Most of the gardens of the Edo Period were either promenade gardens or dry rock zen gardens, and they were usually much larger than earlier gardens. The promenade gardens of the period made extensive use of shakkei, the borrowing of landscapes in the distance, such as mountains, and integrating them into the garden; or, even better, building the garden on the side of a mountain and using the different elevations. Edo promenade gardens were often composed of a series of meisho, or "famous views", similar to postcards. These could be imitations of famous natural landscapes, like Mount Fuji, or scenes from Taoist or Buddhist legends, or landscapes illustrating verses of poetry. Unlike zen gardens, they were designed to portray nature as it appeared, not the internal rules of nature.[23]
- Shugakuin Imperial Villa
- Shisen-dō, (1641)
- Suizen-ji
- Hama Rikyu
- Kōraku-en (Okayama)
- Ritsurin Garden (Takamatsu)
- Koishikawa Kōraku-en (Tokyo), (1629)
- Ninna-ji, Kyoto
- Emman-in, Otsu
- Sanzen-in, north of Kyoto
- Chishaku-in, southeast of Kyoto
- Jōju-in, in the temple of Kiyomizu, southeast of Kyoto. (1688–1703)
- Manshu-in, northeast of Kyoto (1656)
- Nanzen-ji, east of Kyoto. (1688–1703)
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The hermitage garden of the poet and scholar Ishikawa Jozan at Shisen-dō, built in 1641. It later became a temple.
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The north garden at Ninna-ji in Kyoto, a classic promenade garden
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The south garden at Ninna-ji, a zen rock garden
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Koishikawa Korakuen garden in Tokyo, begun in 1629, is now surrounded by office buildings.
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The most famous view of Suizen-ji is miniature mountain resembling Mount Fuji
Meiji Period (1868-1912)
The Meiji period saw the modernization of Japan, and the re-opening of Japan to the west. Many of the old private gardens had been abandoned and left to ruin. In 1871, a new law transformed many gardens from the Momoyama and Edo periods into public parks, preserving them. Notable gardens of this period include:
- Kenroku-en, 18th and 19th centuries, finished in 1874.
- Murin-an in Kyoto, finished 1898.
- Chinzan-so in Tokyo
Modern Japanese gardens (1912 to 2012)
During the Showa Period (1926–1988,), many traditional gardens were built by businessmen and politicians. After World War II, the principal builders of gardens were no longer private individuals, but banks, hotels, universities, and government agencies. The Japanese garden became an extension of the architecture of the building. New gardens were designed by architecture school graduates, and often used modern building materials, such as concrete.
Some modern Japanese gardens, such as Tōfuku-ji, designed by Mirei Shigemori, were inspired by classical models. Other modern gardens have taken a much more radical approach to the traditions. One example is Awaji Yumebutai, a garden on the island of Awaji, in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan, designed by Tadao Ando. It was built as part of a resort and conference center on a steep slope, where land had been stripped away to make an island for an airport.
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Tōfuku-ji, A modern Japanese garden from 1934, designed by Mirei Shigemori, built on grounds of a 3th century zen temple in Kyoto
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The moss garden at Tōfuku-ji, Kyoto
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A contemporary Japanese garden at the Kochi Museum of Art
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The garden at the Naoshima Fukutake Art Museum, using sculpture to imitate the form of island on the horizon
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Garden of the Adachi Museum of Art
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Awaji Yumebutai, a contemporary garden on the island of Awaji, Hyogo (2000)
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Shell beach garden, part of the Awaji Yumebutai on the island of Awaji, Hyogo (2000)
Garden elements
Water
Japanese gardens always have water, either a pond or stream, or, in the dry rock garden, represented by white sand. In Buddhist symbolism, water and stone are the ying-yang, two opposites which complement and complete each other. A traditional garden will usually have an irregular-shaped pond, or, in larger gardens, two or more ponds connected by a channel or stream, and a cascade, a miniature version of Japan's famous mountain waterfalls.
In traditional gardens, The ponds and streams are carefully placed according to Buddhist geomancy, the art and science of putting things in the place most likely to attract good fortune. The rules for the placement of water were laid out in the first manual of Japanese gardens, the Sakuteiki, or "The Creation of Gardens", in the 11th century. (see "Literature" below.) According to the Sakuteiki, The water should enter the garden from the east or southeast, and flow toward the west because the east is the home of the Green Dragon (seiryu) an ancient Chinese divinity adapted in Japan, and the west is the home of the White Tiger, the divinity of the east. Water flowing from east to west will carry away evil, and the owner of the garden will be healthy and have a long life. According to the Sakutei-ki, Another favorable arrangement is for the water to flow from north, which represents water in Buddhist cosmology, to the south, which represents fire, which are also opposites, or ying-yang, and therefore will bring good luck. [24].
The Sakuteiki recommends several different possible miniature landscapes using lakes and streams; the "ocean style", which features rocks which appear to have been eroded by waves, a sandy beach, and pine trees; the "broad river style", recreating the course of a large river, winding like a serpent; the "marsh pond" style, a large still pond with aquatic plants; "The mountain torrent style", with many rocks and cascades; and the "rose letters" style, an austere landscape with small, low plants, gentle relief and many scattered flat rocks.
Traditional Japanese gardens have small islands in the lakes. In sacred temple gardens, there is usually an island which represents Mount Penglai or Mount Horai, the traditional home of the Eight Immortals.
The Sakuteiki describes different kinds of artificial islands which can be created in lakes, including the "mountainous island", made up of jagged vertical rocks mixed with pine trees, surrounded by a sandy beach; the "rocky island", composed of "tormented" rocks appearing to have been battered by sea waves, along with small, ancient pine trees with unusual shapes; the "cloud island", made of white sand in the rounded white forms of a cumulus cloud; and the "misty island", a low island of sand, without rocks or trees.
A cascade or waterfall is also an important element in Japanese gardens, a miniature version of the waterfalls of Japanese mountain streams. The Sakuteiki described seven different kinds of cascades. It also notes that if possible a cascade should face toward the moon, and should be designed to capture the reflection of the moon in the water. [25]
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Lotus pond at Enjo-ji, a Heian Period paradise garden (12th century)
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A winding stream at Mōtsū-ji garden in Hiraisumi
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The spring-fed pond at Suizen-ji Jōju-en garden, (1636) whose water was reputed to be excellent for making tea
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Youkoukan Garden in Fukui Prefecture recreates a miniature beach and a mountain
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An island in Koraku-en gardens, Tokyo
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Cascade at Keitaku-en garden near Osaka
Rocks and sand
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Rock, sand and gravel are an essential feature of the Japanese garden. A vertical rock may represent Mount Horai, the legendary home of the Eight Immortals. or Mount Sumeru of Buddhist teaching, or a carp jumping from the water. A flat rock might represent the earth. Sand or gravel can represent a beach, or a flowing river. Rocks and water also symbolize yin and yang, (in and yō in Japanese) in Buddhist philosophy; the hard rock and soft water complement each other, and water, though soft, can wear away rock.
Rough volcanic rocks (kasei-gan) are usually used to represent mountains or as stepping stones. Smooth and round sedimentary rocks (suisei-gan) are used around lakes or as stepping stones. Hard metamorphic rocks are usually placed by waterfalls or streams. Rocks are traditionally classified as tall vertical, low vertical, arching, reclining, or flat. Rocks should vary in size and color but from each other, but not have bright colors, which would lack subtlety. Rocks with strata or veins should have the veins all going in the same direction, and the rocks should all be firmly planted in the earth, giving an appearance of firmness and permanence. Rocks are arranged in careful compositions of two, three, five or seven rocks, with three being the most common. In a three-arrangement, a tallest rock usually represents heaven, the shortest rock is the earth, and the medium-sized rock is humanity, the bridge between heaven and earth. Sometimes one or more rocks, called suteishi, ("nameless" or "discarded") are placed in seemingly random locations in the garden, to suggest spontaneity, though their placement is carefully chosen.[26]
In ancient Japan, sand (suna) and gravel (jari) were used around Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Later it was used in the Japanese rock garden or Zen Buddhist gardens to represent water or clouds. White sand represented purity, but sand could also be gray, brown or bluish-black.[27]
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Sand in checkerboard pattern at Tōfuku-ji, in Kyoto
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Tōfuku-ji garden in Kyoto
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Myōshin-ji garden
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Shitenno-ji garden. Note the three-rock composition in the center.
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Ankokuji garden in Hiroshima features rocks of different but harmonious sizes and colors
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Rock composition at Tōfuku-ji (1934)
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A large flat rock on an island in Korakuen garden in Tokyo, which represents a turtle's head.
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Carefully positioned stones around the pond in Ritsurin Garden.
Garden architecture
In Heian Period Japanese gardens, built in the Chinese model, buildings occupied as much or more space than the garden. The garden was designed to be seen from the main building and its varandas, or from small pavilions built for that purpose. In later gardens, the buildings were less visible. Rustic teahouses were hidden in their own little gardens, and small benches and open pavilions along the garden paths provided places for rest and contemplation. In later garden architecture, walls of houses and teahouses could be opened to provide carefully-framed views of the garden. The garden and the house became one.[28]
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The symetrical and highly ornamental architecture of the Phoenix Hall in Byōdō-in Garden, Kyoto, (1052 A.D.) was inspired by Chinese Song Dynasty architecture.
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A chashitsu or teahouse in Jo-an garden in Inuyama, from 1618. The simple and unadorned zen teahouse style began to be used on all Japanese buildings, from garden pavilions to palaces. This teahouse was declared a National Treasure of Japan in 1951.
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The architecture of the main house of the Katsura Imperial Villa (1619-1662) was inspired by the simplicity of the tea house.
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Ritsurin Garden (18th century) illustrates the intimate connection between architecture and the garden, and the contrast and harmony between the right angles of the architecture and the natural forms of the landscape.
Garden bridges
Bridges first appeared in the Japanese garden during the Heian period. At Byōdō-in garden in Kyoto, a wooden bridge connects the Phoenix pavilion with a small island of stones, representing the Mount Penglai or Mount Horai, the island home of the Eight Immortals of Daoist teaching, The bridge symbolized the path to paradise and immortality.[29]
Bridges could be made of stone (ishibashi), or of wood, or made of logs with earth on top, covered with moss (dobashi); they could be either arched (soribashi) or flat (hirabashi). Sometimes if they were part of a temple garden, they were painted red, following the Chinese tradition, but for the most part they were unpainted.[30]
During the Edo period, when large promenade gardens became popular, streams and winding paths were constructed, with a series of bridges, usually in a rustic stone or wood style, to take visitors on a tour of the scenic views of the garden.
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The bridge at Byōdō-in temple (1052) represented the way to the island of the immortals, and paradise
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A bridge at Tokushima castle made of two stones resting on a third stone (1592).
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Wood and stone bridge at Suizen-ji garden. The garden was begun in 1636.
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Wooden bridge in Ritsurin Garden, (Between 1642 and 1745)
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The Flying Geese Bridge in Kenroku-en garden (Between 1822 and 1874).
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Stone bridge in Koishikawa Kōrakuen
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Rustic bridge at Tensha-en garden in Uwajima (1866)
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A wooden bridge covered with earth and moss (dobashi) at Sorakuen
Stone lanterns and water basins
For complete article see Tōrō
Japanese stone lanterns (台灯籠, dai-dōrō, lit. platform lamp) date back to the Nara Period and the Heian Period. Originally they were located only at Buddhist temples, where they lined the paths and approaches to the temple, but in the Heian period they began to be used at Shinto shrines as well. According to tradition, during the Momoyama Period they were introduced to the tea garden by the first great tea masters, and in later gardens they were used purely for decoration.
In its complete and original form, a dai-doro, like the pagoda, represents the five elements of Buddhist cosmology. The piece touching the ground represents chi, the earth; the next section represents sui, or water; ka or fire, is represented by the section encasing the lantern's light or flame, while fū (air) and kū (void or spirit) are represented by the last two sections, top-most and pointing towards the sky. The segments express the idea that after death our physical bodies will go back to their original, elemental form.[31]
Stone water basins, (tsukubai) were originally placed in gardens for visitors to wash their hands and mouth before the tea ceremony. The water is provided to the basin by a bamboo pipe, or kakei, and they usually have a wooden ladle for drinking the water. In tea gardens, the basin was placed low to the ground, so the drinker had to bend over to get his water. [32]
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Lantern in Shukkei-en garden in Hiroshima.
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Lantern in Koraku-en garden
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Water basin at Ryoan-ji, Kyoto
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Stone water basin in Kenroku-en garden.
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Stone water basin in Sakamotu, Otsu, Shiga
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Water basin at Tenryu-ji Temple in Kyoto
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Snow lanterns, like this one in Kenroku-en garden, have wide brims which catch the snow, to create picturesque scenes.
Garden fences, gates, and devices
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The exterior wall of Katsura Imperial Villa, designed, like all the garden, for purity and simplicity
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Gate of the Urakuen tea garden, seen from inside
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The traditional garden gate of the Adachi Museum of Art
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A shishiodoshi is garden device, made of bamboo and wood, designed to scare away birds. As the bamboo tube fills with water, it clacks against a stone, empties, then fills with water again.
Trees and flowers
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Momiji_in_Ginkaku-ji.jpg/220px-Momiji_in_Ginkaku-ji.jpg)
Nothing in a Japanese garden is natural or left to chance; each plant is chosen according to aesthetic principles, either to hide undesirable sights, to serve as a backdrop to certain garden features, or to create a picturesque scene, like a landscape painting or postcard. Trees are carefully chosen and arranged for their autumn colors. Mosses often used to suggest that the garden is ancient. Flowers are also carefully chosen by their season of flowering. Formal flowerbeds are rare in older gardens, but more common in modern gardens. Some plants are chosen for their religious symbolism, such as the lotus, sacred in Buddhist teachings, or the pine, which represents longevity.
The trees are carefully trimmed to provide attractive scenes, and to prevent them from blocking other views of the garden. Their growth is also controlled, in a technique called Niwaki, to give them more picturesque shapes, and to make them look more ancient. They are sometimes constrained to bend, in order to provide shadows or better reflections in the water. Very old pine trees are often supported by wooden crutches, or their branches are held by cords, to keep them from breaking under the weight of snow.
In the late 16th century, a new art was developed in the Japanese garden; that of o-karikomi, the technique of trimming bushes into balls or rounded shapes which imitate waves. According to tradition this art was developed by Kobori Enshu (1579–1647), and it was most frequently practiced on azalea bushes. It was similar to the topiary gardens made in Europe at the same time, except that European topieary gardens tried to make trees look like geometric solid objects, while o-karkikomi sought to make bushes look as if they were almost liquid, or in in flowing natural shapes. It created an artistic play of light on the surface of the bush, and, according to garden historian Michel Baridon, "it also brought into play the sense of 'touching things' which even today succeeds so well in Japanese design.".[33]
The most common trees and plants found in Japanese gardens are the azalea (tsutsuji), the camelia (tsubaki), the oak (kashiwa), the Japanese apricot (ume), cherry (sakura), maple (momiji), the willow (yanagi), the ginkgo (ichō), the Japanese cypress (hinoki), the Japanese cedar (sugi), pine (matsu), and bamboo (take).
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The style of topiary plant sculpture known as o-karikomi in Chionin Garden.
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O-karikomi sculpted trees and bushes at Chiran Samurai Residence.
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Azaleas at Soraku-en Garden
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Pine trees at Kenroku-en garden supported by braces to support the weight of snow without breaking
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Some ancient pine trees at Kenroku-en supported by cords in winter to keep their limbs from breaking
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Landscape in Ritsurin Garden
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O-karikomi; trimmed bushes in Ritsurin Garden
Fish
The use of fish, particularly nishiki-goi (colored carp), or goldfish as a decorative element in gardens was borrowed from the Chinese garden. Goldfish were developed in China more than a thousand years ago by selectively breeding Prussian carp for color mutations. By the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279), yellow, orange, white and red-and-white colorations had been developed. Goldfish were introduced to Japan in the 16th century. Koi were developed from common carp in Japan in the 1820s. Koi are domesticated common carp (Cyprinus carpio) that are selected or culled for color; they are not a different species, and will revert to the original coloration within a few generations if allowed to breed freely.[34][35]
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Nishiki-goi, or brocaded (colored) carp, a decorative fish bred for gardens
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A large carp in the garden of Suizen-ji
Aesthetic principles
The early Japanese gardens largely followed the Chinese model, but gradually Japanese gardens developed their own principles and aesthetics. These were spelled out by a series of landscape gardening manuals, beginning with Sakuteiki (Notes on Gardening) in the Heian Period (794-1185).[36] The principles of sacred gardens, such as the gardens of Zen Buddhist temples, were different than those of pleasure or promenade gardens; for example, Zen Buddhist gardens were designed to be seen, while seated, from a platform with a view of the whole garden, without entering it, while promenade gardens were meant to be seen by walking through the garden and stopping at a series of view points. However, they often contain common elements and used the same techniques. Some basic principles are:
Miniaturization. The Japanese garden is a miniature and idealized view of nature. Rocks can represent mountains, and ponds can represent seas. The garden is sometimes made to appear larger by placing larger rocks and trees in the foreground, and smaller ones in the background.
Concealment. (miegakure, literally 'hide and reveal.') The Zen Buddhist garden is meant to be seen at all once, but the promenade garden is meant to be seen one landscape at a time, like a scroll of painted landscapes unrolling. Features are hidden behind hills, trees groves or bamboo, walls or structures, to be discovered when the visitor follows the winding path.
"Borrowed" Scenery (Shakkei). Smaller gardens are often designed to incorporate the view of features outside the garden, such as hills, trees or temples, as part of the view. This makes the garden seem larger than it really is.
Asymmetry. Japanese gardens are not laid on straight axes, or with a single feature dominating the view. Buildings and garden features are usually placed to be seen from a diagonal, and are carefully composed into scenes that contrast right angles, such as buildings with natural features, and vertical features, such as rocks, bamboo or trees, with horizontal features, such as water.[37]
According to garden historians David and Michigo Young, at the heart of the Japanese garden is the principle that a garden is a work of art. "Though inspired by nature, it is an interpretation rather than a copy; it should appear to be natural, but it is not wild.".[38]
Landscape gardener Seyemon Kusumoto wrote that the Japanese generate "the best of nature's handiwork in a limited space."[39]
Differences between Japanese and Chinese gardens
Japanese gardens during the Heian Period were modeled upon Chinese gardens, but by the Edo Period there were distinct differences.
Architecture. Chinese gardens have buildings in the center of the garden, occupying a large part of the garden space. The buildings are placed next to or over the central body of water. The garden buildings are very elaborate, with much architectural decoration. In later Japanese gardens, the buildings are well apart from the body of water, and the buildings are simple, with very little ornament. The architecture in a Japanese garden is largely or partly concealed.
Viewpoint. Chinese gardens are designed to be seen from the inside, from the buildings, galleries and pavilions in the center of the garden. Later Japanese gardens are designed to be seen from the outside, as in the Japanese rock garden or Zen garden; or from a path winding through the garden.
Symmetry. The structures within Chinese gardens are usually organized in a symmetrical fashion along straight axes, and were meant to be seen head-on, even though galleries and even bridges might zig-zag. The structures in a Japanese garden from the Edo period onward are organized asymmetrically, are meant to be seen at a diagonal rather than head-on, and often are arranged in a seemingly-random pattern called "wild geese in flight."
Use of Rocks. In a Chinese garden, particularly in the Ming Dynasty, rocks were selected for their extraordinary shapes or resemblance to animals or mountains, and used for dramatic effect. They were often the stars and centerpieces of the garden. In later Japanese gardens, rocks were smaller and placed in more natural arrangements. integrated into the garden.[40]
Marine Landscapes. Chinese gardens were inspired by Chinese inland landscapes, particularly Chinese lakes and mountains, while Japanese gardens often use miniaturized scenery from the Japanese coast. Japanese gardens frequently include white sand or pebble beaches and rocks which seem to have been worn by by the waves and tide, which rarely appear in Chinese gardens.[41]
Garden styles
Chisen-shoyū-teien or pond garden
The chisen-shoyū-teien, literally "lake-spring-boat excursion garden", was imported from China during the Heian Period (794-1185). It is also called the shinden-zukuri style, after the architectural style of the main building. It featured a large, ornate residence with two long wings reaching south to a large lake and garden. Each wing ended in a pavilion from which guests could enjoy the views of the lake. Visitors made tours of the lake in small boats. These gardens had large lakes with small islands, where musicians played during festivals and ceremonies worshippers could look across the water at the Buddha. No original gardens of this period remain, but reconstructions can be seen at Heian-jingū and Daikaku-ji Temple in Kyoto.
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Heian-jingū is a recreation of the old imperial pond garden of Kyoto.
The Paradise Garden
The Paradise Garden appeared in the late Heian Period, created by nobles belonging to the Amida Buddhism sect. They were meant to symbolize Paradise or the Pure Land (Jōdo), where the Buddha sat on a platform contemplating a lotus pond. These gardens featured a lake island called Nakajima, where the Buddha hall was located, connected to the shore by an arching bridge. The most famous surviving example is the garden of the Phoenix Hall of Byōdō-in Temple, built in 1053, in Uji, near Kyoto. Other examples are Jōruri-ji temple in Kyoto, Enro-ji Temple in Nara Prefecture, the Hokongoin in Kyoto, Mōtsū-ji Temple in Hiraizumi, and Shiramizu Amidado Garden in Iwaki City.[42]
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Byōdō-in Temple in Uji, near Kyoto.
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Enjō-ji Temple in Nara Prefecture is a good example of a paradise garden of the late Heian Period.
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Jōruri-ji, a paradise garden in Kyoto. The pond was dug by monks in 1150.
Karesansui dry rock gardens
Karesansui gardens (枯山水) or Japanese rock gardens, became popular in Japan in the 14th century thanks to the work of a Buddhist monk, Musō Soseki (1275–1351) who built zen gardens at the five major monasteries in Kyoto. These gardens have white sand or raked gravel in place of water, carefully-arranged rocks, and sometimes rocks and sand covered with moss. Their purpose is to facilitate meditation, and they are meant to be viewed while seated on the porch of the residence of the hōjō, the abbot of the monastery. The most famous example is Ryōan-ji Temple in Kyoto.
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Rosan-ji garden, Kyoto
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Zuihō-in garden, Kyoto
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Daisen-in, Kyoto
Roji, or tea gardens
The tea garden was created during the Muromachi Period (1333-1573) and Momoyama Period (1573-1600) as a setting for the Japanese tea ceremony, or chanoyu. The style of garden takes its name from the roji, or path to the teahouse, which is supposed to inspire the visitor to meditation to prepare him for the ceremony. There is an outer garden, with a gate and covered arbor where guests wait for the invitation to enter. They then pass through a gate to the inner garden, where they wash their hands and rinse their mouth, as they would before entering a Shinto shrine, before going into the teahouse itself. The path is always kept moist and green, so it will look like a remote mountain path, and their are no bright flowers that might distract the visitor from his meditation.[43] Early tea houses had no windows, but later teahouses have a wall which can be opened for a view of the garden.
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A teahouse and roji, or tea garden, at Ise Jingu.
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Traditional teahouse and tea garden at Kenroku-en Garden
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Garden of the Urakuen teahouse
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Rustic gate of the Keishun-in garden teahouse in Kyoto
Kaiyū-shiki-teien, or promenade gardens
Promenade or stroll gardens (landscape gardens in the go-round style) appeared in Japan during the Edo Period, (1600-1854), at the villas of nobles or warlords. These gardens were designed to complement the houses in the new sukiya-zukuri style of architecture, which were modeled after the tea house. These gardens were meant to be seen by following a path clockwise around the lake from one carefully-composed scene to another. These gardens used two techniques to provide interest; shakkei, or "borrowed scenery", which took advantage of views of scenery outside the garden, such as mountains or temples, incorporating them into the view so the garden looked larger than it really was; and miegakure, or "hide-and-reveal," which used winding paths, fences, bamboo and buildings to hide the scenery so the visitor would not it until he was at the best view point. Edo Period gardens also often feature recreations of famous scenery or scenes inspired by literature; Suizen-ji Jōju-en Garden in Kumamoto has a miniature version of Mount Fuji, and Katsura Villa in Kyoto has a miniature version of the Ama-no-hashidate sandbar in Miyazu Bay, near Kyoto. The Rikugi-en Garden in Tokyo creates small landscapes inspired by eighty-eight famous Japanese poems.[44].
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Katsura Imperial Villa, the prototype for the promenade garden
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Shugaku-in Imperial Villa, completed in 1659, another classic example of a promenade garden of the Edo Period
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Suizen-ji Jōju-en Garden, begun in 1636, has a miniature replica of Mount Fuji. The trees on the upper part of the hill are trimmed to be smaller, to make the mountain look taller.
Tsubo-niwa courtyard garden
These small gardens were originally found in the interior courtyards of Heian Period and palaces, and were designed to give a glimpse of nature and some privacy to the residents of the rear side of the building. They were as small as one tsubo, or about 3.3 square meters. During the Edo Period, merchants began building small gardens in the space behind their shops, which faced the street, and their residences, located at the rear. These tiny gardens were meant to be seen, not entered, and usually had a stone lantern, a water basin, stepping stones and a few plants. Today, tsubo-niwa are found in many Japanese residences, hotels, restaurants, and public buildings. [45] A good example from the Meiji Period is found in the villa of Murin-an in Kyoto.[46]
Hermitage garden
A hermitage garden is a small garden usually built by a samurai or government official who wanted to retire from public life and devote himself to study or meditation. It is attached to a rustic house, and approached by a winding path, which suggests it is deep in a forest. It may have a small pond, a Japanese rock garden, and the other features of traditional gardens, in miniature, designed to create tranquility and inspiration. An example is the Shisen-dō garden in Kyoto, built by a bureaucrat and scholar exiled by the shogun in the 17th century. It is now a Buddhist temple.
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Shisen-dō, built in Kyoto, in the 17th century, one of the best examples of a hermitage garden
Literature and art of the Japanese garden
Garden Manuals
The first manual of Japanese gardening was the "Sakuteiki" ("Records of Garden Making"), probably written in the late eleventh century by Tachibana no Tohshitsuna, (1028-1094). Citing even older Chinese sources, it explains how to organize the garden, from the placement of rocks and streams to the correct depth of ponds and height of cascades. While it was based on earlier Chinese garden principles, it also expressed ideas which were unique to Japanese gardens, such as islands, beaches and rock formations imitating Japanese maritime landscapes.
Besides giving advice, Sakuteiki also gives dire warnings of what happens if the rules are not followed; the author warns that, if a rock that in nature was in a horizontal position is stood upright in a garden, it will bring misfortune to the owner of the garden. And, if a large rock pointed toward the north or west is placed near a gallery, the owner of the garden will be forced to leave before a year passes.[47]
Another influential work about the Japanese garden, bonseki, bonsai and related arts was Rhymeprose on a Miniature Landscape Garden (around 1300) by the Zen monk Kokan Shiren, which explained how meditation on a miniature garden purified the senses and the mind and led to understanding of the correct relationship between man and nature.
Other influential garden manuals which helped to define the aesthetics of the Japanese garden are Senzui Narabi ni Yagyo no Zu (Illustrations for Designing Mountain, Water and Hillside Field Landscapes), written in the fifteenth century, and Tsukiyama Teizoden (Building Mountains and Making Gardens), from the 18th century. The tradition of Japanese gardening was historically passed down from sensei to apprentice. The opening words of Illustrations for designing mountain, water and hillside field landscapes (1466) are "If you have not received the oral transmissions, you must not make gardens" and its closing admonition is "You must never show this writing to outsiders. You must keep it secret".[48]
These garden manuals are still studied today.[49]
Gardens in literature and poetry
- The Tale of Genji, the classic Japanese novel of the Heian Period, describes the role of the Japanese garden in court life. The characters attend festivals in the old Kyoto imperial palace garden, take boat trips on the lake, listen to music and watch formal dances under the trees.[50]
Gardens were often the subject of poems during the Heian period. A poem in one anthology from the period, the Kokin-Shu, described the Kiku-shima, or island of chrystanthemums, found in the Osawa pond in the great garden of the period called Saga-in.
- I had thought that here
- only one chrysanthmum can grow.
- Who therefore has planted
- the other in the depths
- of the pond of Osawa?
Another poem of the Heian period, in the Hyakunin isshu, described a cascade of rocks, which simulated a waterfall, in the same garden:
- The cascade long ago
- ceased to roar,
- But we continue to hear
- The murmur
- of its name. [51]
Philosophy, painting, and the Japanese garden
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Shubun_-_Landscape_of_the_Four_Seasons.jpg/220px-Shubun_-_Landscape_of_the_Four_Seasons.jpg)
In Japanese culture, garden-making is a high art, equal to the arts of calligraphy and ink painting. Gardens are considered three-dimensional textbooks of Daoism and Zen Buddhism. Sometimes the lesson is very literal; the garden of Saihō-ji featured a pond shaped like the Japanese character shin, the heart-spirit of Chinese philosophy, but usually the lessons are contained in the arrangements of the rocks, the water and the plants. For example, the lotus flower has a particular message; Its roots are in the mud at the bottom of the pond, symbolizing the misery of the human condition, but it's flower is pure white, symbolizing the purity of spirit that can be achieved by following the teachings of the Buddha. [52]
The Japanese rock gardens were intended to be intellectual puzzles for the monks who lived next to them to study and solve. They followed the same principles as the suiboku-ga, the black-and-white Japanese inks paintings of the same period, which, according to Zen Buddhist principles, tried to achieve the maximum effect using the minimum essential elements.[53]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Hy%C3%B4nen_zu_by_Josetsu.jpg/220px-Hy%C3%B4nen_zu_by_Josetsu.jpg)
One painter who influenced the Japanese garden was Josetsu (1405-1423), a Chinese zen monk who moved to Japan and introduced a new style of ink-brush painting, moving away from the romantic misty landscapes of the earlier period, and using asymmetry and areas of white space, similar to the white space created by sand in zen gardens, to set apart and highlight a mountain or tree branch or other element of his painting. He became chief painter of the Shogun and influenced a generation of painters and garden designers.[54]
Japanese gardens also follow the principles of perspective of Japanese landscape painting, which feature a close-up plane, an intermediate plane, and a distant plane. The empty space between the different planes has a great importance, and is filled with water, moss, or sand. The garden designers used various optical tricks to give the garden the illusion of being larger than it really is, by using distant "borrowed scenery" outside the garden, or using miniature trees and bushes to create the illusion that they are far away.[55]
Noteworthy Japanese gardens
In Japan
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d1/Tenryuji_Kyoto01n4500.jpg/220px-Tenryuji_Kyoto01n4500.jpg)
(Kaiyū-shiki Garden, completed in 14th century)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/Korakuen_Okayama26s3872.jpg/220px-Korakuen_Okayama26s3872.jpg)
(Kaiyū-shiki Garden, completed in 17th century)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Adachi_Museum_of_Art01st3200.jpg/220px-Adachi_Museum_of_Art01st3200.jpg)
(Kanshō-shiki Garden, completed in 20th century)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/Kumamoto_Suizenji-jojuen01n4272.jpg/220px-Kumamoto_Suizenji-jojuen01n4272.jpg)
The Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of the government of Japan designates the most notable of the nation's scenic beauty as Special Places of Scenic Beauty, under the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties.[56] As of March 1, 2007, 29 sites are listed, more than a half of which are Japanese gardens, as below;
Boldface entries specify World Heritage Sites.
- Tohoku Region
- Mōtsū-ji Garden (Hiraizumi, Iwate)
- Kantō region
- Chūbu region
- Kansai Region
- Byōdō-in Garden (Uji, Kyoto)
- Jisho-ji Garden (Kyoto, Kyoto)
- Nijō Castle Ninomaru Garden (Kyoto, Kyoto)
- Rokuon-ji Garden (Kyoto, Kyoto)
- Ryōan-ji Garden (Kyoto, Kyoto)
- Tenryū-ji Garden (Kyoto, Kyoto)
- The garden of Sanbōin in Daigo-ji (Kyoto, Kyoto)
- The moss garden of Saihō-ji (the "Moss Temple") (Kyoto, Kyoto)
- Daitoku-ji Garden (Kyoto, Kyoto)
- The garden of Daisen-in in Daitoku-ji (Kyoto, Kyoto)
- Murin-an garden, Kyoto, Kyoto
- Negoro-ji Garden (Iwade, Wakayama)
- Chūgoku region
- Shikoku Region
- Kyushu Region
- Ryūkyū Islands
However, the Education Minister is not eligible to have jurisdiction over any imperial property. These two gardens, administered by Imperial Household Agency, are also considered to be great masterpieces.
In the English-speaking world
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/07._Japanese_Garden_Pano%2C_Cowra%2C_NSW%2C_22.09.2006.jpg/220px-07._Japanese_Garden_Pano%2C_Cowra%2C_NSW%2C_22.09.2006.jpg)
The aesthetic of Japanese gardens was introduced to the English-speaking community by Josiah Conder's Landscape Gardening in Japan (Kelly & Walsh, 1893). It sparked the first Japanese gardens in the West. A second edition was required in 1912.[59] Conder's principles have sometimes proved hard to follow:
- "Robbed of its local garb and mannerisms, the Japanese method reveals aesthetic principles applicable to the gardens of any country, teaching, as it does, how to convert into a poem or picture a composition, which, with all its variety of detail, otherwise lacks unity and intent"[60]
Samuel Newsom's Japanese Garden Construction (1939) offered Japanese aesthetic as a corrective in the construction of rock gardens, which owed their quite separate origins in the West to the mid-19th century desire to grow alpines in an approximation of Alpine scree.
According to the Garden History Society, Japanese landscape gardener Seyemon Kusumoto was involved in the development of around 200 gardens in the UK. In 1937 he exhibited a rock garden at the Chelsea Flower Show, and worked on the Burngreave Estate at Bognor Regis, and also on a Japanese garden at Cottered in Hertfordshire. The lush courtyards at Du Cane Court—an art deco block of flats in Balham, London, built between 1935 and 1938—were designed by Kusumoto. All four courtyards there may have originally contained ponds. Only one survives, and this is stocked with koi. There are also several stone lanterns, which are meant to symbolise the illumination of one's path through life; similarly, the paths through the gardens are not straight. Japanese maple, Japanese anemone, cherry trees, evergreens, and bamboo are other typical features of Du Cane Court's gardens.[39]
Australia
- Canberra Nara Park
- Cowra Japanese Garden, Cowra, New South Wales
- Frankston High School
- Himeji Gardens, Adelaide
- Melbourne Zoo
- "Tsuki-yama-chisen" Japanese Garden, Brisbane
- Nerima Gardens, Ipswich
- Toowomba Japanese Garden, Ju Raku En, Queensland
New Zealand
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Japanese_Garden_at_Hamilton_Gardens%2C_Waikato%2C_New_Zealand..jpg/220px-Japanese_Garden_at_Hamilton_Gardens%2C_Waikato%2C_New_Zealand..jpg)
- Hamilton Gardens, Waikato
Canada
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Japanese_Garden_Devonian_Botanic_Garden_Edmonton_Alberta_Canada_31A.jpg/220px-Japanese_Garden_Devonian_Botanic_Garden_Edmonton_Alberta_Canada_31A.jpg)
- Nitobe Memorial Garden, Vancouver, British Columbia
- The Devonian Botanical Garden, Edmonton, Alberta, which contains an extensive Japanese garden
- Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden, Lethbridge, Alberta [1]
- The Japanese Garden and Pavilion, Montreal Botanical Garden, Quebec
- Kariya Park, Mississauga, Ontario [2]
India
- Japanese Garden, Moti Jheel, Kanpur
- Buddha Park, Indira Nagar, Kalianpur, Kanpur
United Kingdom
England
- Ame (rain) Japanese style private garden near Bolton in Lancashire England - an on-going project
- Compton Acres, Dorset[61]
- Dartington Hall, Devon[62]
- Harewood House, Leeds
- Holland Park, London[62]
- St Mawgan in Pydar, Cornwall[63]
- Tatton Park, Cheshire[62]
- School of Oriental and African Studies, London[62]
Northern Ireland
- Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park, Belfast
- Fujiyama Japanese Garden
Scotland
- Lauriston Castle, Edinburgh —garden opened 2002[62]
Ireland
- The Japanese Gardens at the Irish National Stud, Kildare, Co. Kildare[62]
Singapore
- Japanese Garden - a garden island located in Jurong Lake
United States of America
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/Bridge_Over_a_Pond_of_Water_Lilies%2C_Claude_Monet_1899.jpg/220px-Bridge_Over_a_Pond_of_Water_Lilies%2C_Claude_Monet_1899.jpg)
- Anderson Japanese Gardens (Rockford, Illinois)
- Brooklyn Botanic Garden (Brooklyn, New York)
- Chicago Botanic Garden (Glencoe, Illinois)
- Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden (California State University, Long Beach)
- Fort Worth Japanese Garden at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden (Fort Worth, Texas)
- Hagiwara Japanese Tea Garden (San Francisco, California)
- Hakone Gardens (Saratoga, California)
- Hayward Japanese Gardens (Hayward, California), the oldest traditionally designed Japanese garden in California.[65]
- The Huntington (San Marino, California)
- Japanese Friendship Garden (Phoenix, Arizona)
- Japanese Friendship Garden (Kelley Park) (San Jose, California)
- Japanese Garden at Marjorie McNeely Conservatory (St Paul, Minnesota)
- Maymont Park - Japanese Garden (Richmond, VA)
- Japanese garden at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum (near Chanhassen, Minnesota)
- Kumamoto En (San Antonio, Texas)
- Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, Delray Beach, Florida
- Normandale Japanese Garden (Bloomington, Minnesota)
- Portland Japanese Garden (Portland, Oregon)
- Seattle Japanese Garden at the Washington Park Arboretum, Kubota Garden (Seattle, Washington)
- The Japanese Garden (Los Angeles, California)
- Seiwa-en at the Missouri Botanical Garden (St. Louis, Missouri)
- Shofuso Japanese House and Garden, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Taniguchi Japanese Garden (Austin, Texas)
- Yuko-En on the Elkhorn (Georgetown, Kentucky)
- Shigematsu Memorial Japanese Garden at Lansing Community College, Lansing, Michigan
In other countries
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/Jardin_Japones_de_Bs_As_174.jpg/220px-Jardin_Japones_de_Bs_As_174.jpg)
- Argentina: The Buenos Aires Japanese Gardens, of the Fundación Cultural Argentino Japonesa
- Austria: Setagayapark
- Belgium: Japanse tuin, Hasselt
- Brazil
- Parque Santos Dummont, São José dos Campos, São Paulo
- Bosque Municipal Fábio Barreto, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo
- Chile: La Serena, Chile
- France:
- Departmental Museum of Albert Kahn (Musée départemental Albert-Kahn) in Boulogne-Billancourt.
- Rising sun garden (Jardin du Soleil levant) in the Botanical garden of Upper Brittany.
- Germany: Hamburg, Leverkusen, Kaiserslautern, Munich (in the Englischer Garten).
- Hungary: Small japanese garden on Margaret Island, Budapest and another one in the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden.
- Mongolia: Juulchin street cnr Jigjidjav street, Ulaanbaatar, established in 2005 by a Mongolian sumo wrestler
- The Netherlands:
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Tsubo-en_O-karikomi_center_seasons_run-opt.gif/220px-Tsubo-en_O-karikomi_center_seasons_run-opt.gif)
- The Japanse Tuin of Clingendael park
- The Tsubo-en karesansui garden in Lelystad, a private modern Japanese Zen (karesansui, dry rock) garden
- Poland: The Japanese Garden in Wrocław - founded 1913, restored 1996-1997, destroyed by flood, restored 1999
- Russia: The Japanese Garden in Moscow — founded 1983, opened 1987 (landscape architect Ken Nakajima)
- Serbia: The Japanese Garden in Botanical Garden Jevremovac - opened 2004 (landscape architects Vera and Mihailo Grbic)
- Sweden: Japanska Trädgården in Ronneby Brunnspark, Blekinge
See also
Sources and citations
- ^ Gunter Nitschke, Le jardin japonais, pg. 9-10.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Garden and landscape design: Japanese. Accessed: 7 March 2008.
- ^ Michel Baridon, Les Jardins, pg. 466-479
- ^ Nitschke, Le Jardin japonais, pg. 14-15
- ^ Nitschke, Le Jardin japonais, pg. 14-15, and Young, The Art of the Japanese Garden.
- ^ Young, The Art of the Japanese Garden, pg. 64-65.
- ^ Nitschke, Le Jardin japonais, pg. 22-23
- ^ These three quotations are cited in Nitschke, Le Jardin Japonais, page 30.
- ^ Nitschke, Le Jardin Japonais, pg. 30.
- ^ Nitschke, Le Jardin japonais, pg. 36.
- ^ cited in Nitschke, Le Jardin japonais, pg. 36.
- ^ a b Danielle Ellisseeff, Jardins japonais, pg. 16
- ^ Danielle Elisseeff, Jardins japonais, pg. 22-23.
- ^ Daniele Eilisseeff, Jardins Japonais, pg. 20
- ^ Danielle Elisseeff, Jardins japonais, pg. 30-31
- ^ Miyeko Murase, L'Art du Japon, pg. 173-177
- ^ Gunter Nitschke, Le Jardin japonais, pg. 92. English translation of excerpt by D.R. Siefkin.
- ^ a b Nitschke, Le jardin japonais, pg. 120.
- ^ Miyeko Murase, l'Art du Japon, pg. 213-215.
- ^ Nitschke, Le jardin japonais, pg. 160-162.
- ^ Miyeko Murase, L'Art du Japon, pg. 277-281
- ^ Nitschke, Le jardin Japonais, pg. 158.
- ^ Nitschke, Le jardin japonais, pg. 169-172
- ^ Michel Baridon, Les Jardins, pg. 492.
- ^ Michel Baridon, Les Jardins, pg, 490
- ^ Young, The Art of the Japanese Garden, pg. 24.
- ^ Young, The Art of the Japanese Garden, pg. 24-25
- ^ Young, The Art of the Japanese Garden, pg. 40
- ^ Danielle Elisseeff, Jardins japonais, pg. 24.
- ^ Young and Young, the Art of the Japanese Garden, pg. 33.
- ^ "Five Element Pagodas, Stupas, Steles, Gravestones". Onmark Productions. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
- ^ Young, The Art of the Japanese Garden, (pg. 35)
- ^ Michel Baridon. Les Jardins. Pg. 475. excerpt translated from French by D.R. Siefkin.
- ^ "Aquatic-oasis articles". Aquatic-oasis. Retrieved 2009-02-26. [dead link]
- ^ Exotic goldfish net
- ^ Young, The Art of the Japanese Garden, pg. 20
- ^ Young, The Art of the Japanese Garden, pg. 20.
- ^ Young, The Art of the Japanese Garden, pg. 20
- ^ a b Vincent, Gregory K. (2008). A history of Du Cane Court : land, architecture, people and politics. Woodbine. ISBN 0954167511.
- ^ Young, The Art of the Japanese Garden, pg. 22
- ^ Michel Baridon, Les Jardins, pg. 466
- ^ Young, The Art of the Japanese Garden, pg. 84.
- ^ Young, The Art of the Japanese Garden, pg. 118-119.
- ^ Young, The Art of the Japanese Garden, pg. 124
- ^ Young, The Art of the Japanese Garden, pg, 126
- ^ Gunter Nitschke, Le jardin japonais, pg. 225.
- ^ Michel Baridon, Les Jardins, pg. 485-486.
- ^ The Illustrations, nevertheless, are translated and annotated in David A. Slawson, Secret Teachings in the Art of Japanese Gardens (New York/Tokyo: Kodansha 1987)
- ^ Young, The Art of the Japanese Garden, pg. 20.
- ^ Michel Baridon, Les Jardins, pg. 485.
- ^ Nitschke, Le Jardin Japonais, pg. 42. Excerpts translated from French by DR Siefkin.
- ^ Danielle Elisseeff, Jardins Japonais, pg. 39.
- ^ Miyeko Murase, L'Art du Japon, pg. 183.
- ^ Miyeko Murase, L'Art du Japon, pg. 197
- ^ Virginie Klecka, Jardins Japonais, pg. 20.
- ^ MEXT : Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
- ^ JNTO Website | Find a Location | Kyoto | Katsura
- ^ JNTO Website | Find a Location | Kyoto | Shugaku-in Imperial Villa
- ^ Slawson 1987:15 and note2.
- ^ Conder quoted in Slawson 1987:15.
- ^ "Japanese Gardens in the UK and Ireland — Compton Acres". Retrieved 2007-12-11.
- ^ a b c d e f "UK and Ireland Survey". Japanese Garden Journal. 35. 2003. Retrieved 2007-12-11.
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ignored (help) - ^ Japanese Gardens and Nursery
- ^ Eliovson, Sima (1971). Gardening the Japanese way. Harrap. p. 47. ISBN 9780245506949.
Red lacquered arched bridges are seldom seen in Japan, although they are often placed in Japanese-styled gardens in other countries. These are of Chinese origin and there are only a few in evidence in Japanese gardens.
- ^ The Japanese Gardens. Dmtonline.org. Retrieved on 2010-12-25.
Bibliography
- Young, David and Michiko, (2005), The Art of the Japanese Garden, Tuttle Publishing, Vermont and Singapore, (ISBN 978-0-8048-3598-5)
- Nitschke, Gunter, (1999) Le Jardin japonais - Angle droit et forme naturelle, Taschen publishers, Paris (translated from German into French by Wolf Fruhtrunk), (ISBN 978-3-8228-3034-5)
- Baridon, Michel (1998). Les Jardins- Paysagistes, Jardiniers, Poetes., Éditions Robert Lafont, Paris, (ISBN 2-221-06707-X)
- Murase, Miyeko, (1996), L'Art du Japon, La Pochothḕque, Paris, (ISBN 2-253-13054-0)
- Elisseeff, Danielle, (2010), Jardins japonais, Ḗditions Scala, Paris, (ISBN 978-2-35988-029-8)
- Klecka, Virginie, (2011), Concevoir, Amenager, Decorer Jardins Japonais, Rustica Editions, (ISBN 978-2-8153-0052-0)
- Slawson, David A. Secret Teachings in the Art of Japanese Gardens (New York/Tokyo: Kodansha 1987)
- Yagi, Koji A Japanese Touch for Your Home (Kodansha 1982)
- Miller, P. (2005), The Japanese Garden: Gateway to the Human Spirit, International Journal of Humanities & Peace 2005, Vol. 21 Issue 1, Retrieved August 3, 2008 from: http://researchport.umd.edu
- Kato, E. (2004), The Tea Ceremony and Women’s Empowerment in Modern Japan, RoutledgeCurzon, Retrieved August 3, 2008 from: http://www.netlibrary.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/Reader/
- Varely, P. (2000), Japanese Culture Fourth Edition, The Maple – Vaile Book Manufacturing Group, Retrieved August 3, 2008 from: http://www.netlibrary.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/Reader/
- Japan Lifestyles. (2008), Japanese Garden History, GNU Free Documentation License, Retrieved August 2, 2008 from: http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/
- Gardens, Japan Guide (1996–2008), Retrieved August 3, 2008 from: http://www.japan-guide.com/
- Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary, Kenkyusha Limited, Tokyo 1991, ISBN 4-7674-2015-6
- The Compact Nelson Japanese-English Dictionary, Charles E. Tuttle Company, Tokyo 1999, ISBN 4-8053-0574-6 (Japan)
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Japanese Gardens 65+ in Japan, others overseas
- Japanese Gardens, Bowdoin College