Japanese Garden

"A Japanese Garden is not only aplace for the cultivation of treesand flowering shrubs, but one thatprovides secluded leisure, rest,repose, meditation, and sentimentalpleasure... The Garden speaks to allthe senses, not just to the mind alone."

Professor Takuma TonoDesigner of Portland's Japanese Garden

The Japanese garden embodies native values, their cultural beliefs and religious principles.

This is why there is no one prototype for the Japanese garden, just as there is no one native philosophy or aesthetic. In this way, similar to other forms of Japanese art, landscape design is constantly evolving because of

a) influence from mainland, Chinese influences

b) changing aesthetic tastes and values of the patrons.

At the heart of a Japanese garden is harmony with nature. Through the careful use of plants, stones, and water, areas of serene and quiet beauty emerge. These peaceful spots in the Garden lend Japanese to meditation and contemplation



Basic information
Garden design has been an important Japanese art for many centuries.
Traditional Japanese landscape garden can be broadly categorized into three sub-category;

1. Tsukiyama Garden (hill garden)
2. Karesansui Garden (dry garden)
3. Chaniwa Garden (tea garden).

Tsukiyama Garden
elements: Ponds, streams, hills, stones, trees, flowers, bridges and paths
objectives: are used to create a miniature reproduction of a natural scenery which is often a famous landscape in China or Japan.
origin: The name Tsukiyama refers to the creation of artificial hills.

Tsukiyama garden ;
Smaller garden are usually enjoyed from a single viewpoint, such as the veranda of a temple Larger garden are best experienced by following a circular scrolling path.

Karesansui Garden
elements:Using Stones, gravel, sand & sometimes a few patches of moss.
objectives: reproduce natural landscapes in a more abstract way -using elements for representing mountains, islands, boats, seas and rivers.
origin: Karesansui gardens are strongly influenced by Zen Buddhisme and used for meditation.


Chaniwa Garden
elements: featuring stepping stones that lead towards the tea house, stone laterns and a stone basin (tsukubai) where guest purify themselves before taking part in the ceremony.
objectives: Chaniwa gardens are built for the tea ceremony.
origins: are designed in aesthetic simplicity according to the concepts of sado (tea ceremony)

History & Stories : Japanese Garden

Early Japanese Gardens: Many of these texts mention gardens associated with the ruling class, and some authorities assume that they may have anticipated the gardens constructed on the shinden estates of the Heian Period.

There must have been important religious influences on early garden design as well, given the significance of natural objects in Shinto beliefs.

Original meaning of the Japanese words for garden—niwa—came to mean a place that had been cleansed and purified in anticipation of the arrival of kami, the deified spirits of Shinto, and the Shinto reverence for great rocks, lakes, ancient trees, and other "dignitaries of nature" would exert an enduring influence on Japanese garden design.

With the coming of Buddhism, Japanese garden also began to incorporate references to the mythical mountains, islands, and seas of Hindu-Buddhist tradition. These references, often in the form of stones or stone groupings, would continue to play a role in Japanese garden design for the rest of its history, although it is not always possible to know whether such references are intentional on the part of the designer or simply the product of later interpretations. It is also clear that a pond or lake was commonly included in early garden designs, and this element would also endure through most of the history of Japanese garden design.

Since both Buddhism and Daoism were imports from Korea and China, as were many other elements of early Japanese culture, it would stand to reason that early garden designs in Japan might have emulated Korean or Chinese prototypes.