Japanese gardens (日本庭園 nihon teien), create idealized miniature natural 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 mediation. They can be found at private homes, in neighborhood or city parks, and at historical landmarks such as Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines and old castles.
Landscape gardener Seyemon Kusumoto wrote that the Japanese generate "the best of nature's handiwork in a limited space."[2] Some of the Japanese gardens most famous in the West, and within Japan as well, are dry gardens or rock gardens, karesansui. The tradition of the Tea masters has produced highly refined Japanese gardens of quite another style, evoking rural simplicity. In Japanese culture, garden-making is a high art, intimately related to the linked arts of calligraphy and ink painting. Since the end of the 19th century, Japanese gardens have also been adapted to Western settings.
Japanese gardens were developed under the influences of the distinctive and stylized Chinese gardens.[3] One of the great interest for the historical development of the Japanese garden, bonseki, bonsai and related arts is the c. 1300 Zen monk Kokan Shiren and his rhymeprose essay Rhymeprose on a Miniature Landscape Garden.
The tradition of Japanese gardening was historically passed down from sensei to apprentice. In recent decades this has been supplemented by various trade schools. However, the opening words of Zōen's 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".[4]
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Japanese gardens first appeared on the island of Honshū, the large central island of Japan. In their physical appearance they were inspired by the distinct characteristics of the Honshu landscape; rugged volcanic peaks, narrow valleys and mountain streams with waterfalls and cascades, and small white stone beaches. They were also inspired 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. [5]
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. Shinto shrines to the gods of nature, in the form of unusual trees or rocks, were established all over the island, and often surrounded by white stones, a symbol of purity.[6]
Japanese gardens also have roots in Daoism, and Amitābha 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. The Immortals flew from their mountain homes on the back of cranes. 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, became a common feature of Japanese gardens. [7]
The earliest recorded Japanese gardens were the pleasure gardens of the Japanese Emperiors and nobles. The 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 Keiko 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 Kenzo 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 Shumi, 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 Manyoshu, 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. [9]
In 794, at the beginning of the Heian Period, the Japanese court moved its capital to Heian-kyo (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 Daikakuji 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 Lake Dongting in China.[12]
A scaled-down replica of the Imperial Palace of Kyoto of 794 A.D. , the Heian jingu, 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.[13]
Near the end of the Heian period a new garden architecture style appeared, created by the followers of the Pure Land sect of Buddhism. (淨土, jōdo). These were "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 1852 built the Hall of Phoenix, which still stands. The Hall is built in the traditional style of a Chinese Song Dynasty temple, at the edge of 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. [14]
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, 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 famous garden style of this period is the zen garden, or rock garden, The most famous example, and one of the best-known of all Japanese gardens, is Ryoanji in Kyoto. This garden is just 9 meters wide and 24 meters long. It 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 monk's dormitory, facing it. There have been many debates about what the rocks are supposed to represent, but, as garden historian Gunter Nitschke wrote, "The garden at Ryoanji 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; Muso Soseki (1275-1351). He was a monk, a ninth-generation descendant of the Emperor Uda, 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 Nanzenji; Saihoji (The Moss Garden); and Tenryuji.
The Momoyama period was short, just 32 years, but it was important for Japanese gardens because it saw the development of the [[tea ceremony] and the tea house and garden. Tea had been introduced to Japan from China by Buddhist monks, who used it to keep awake during long periods of meditation. Under the influence of Sen no Rikyū (1522-1591), the tea ceremony was organized around the principle of “wabi,” (侘び, “sober refinement and calm”. The “wabi-cha” movement rejected the ornate and very symmetrical garden pavilions of the gardens of the nobility and sought simplicity and asymmetry. The tea garden was a place to leave the outside world and a setting for meditation and introspection. Similar to the scholar garden of China, it represented the remote mountain huts of Buddhist monks who left behind cities to think about the meaning of life, and to find harmony with nature. Several gardens from this period can be found in Kyoto: They include Kenrokuen (Kanazawa), Kōraku-en (Okayama), Ritsurin Garden (Takamsatsu), Koishikawa Korakuen (Tokyo), and Suizenji Park (Kumamoto)
The Meiji period following the modernization of Japan, famous traditional gardens were owned by businessmen and politicians. Some of these extensive gardens are open to public viewing in Murinan (Kyoto) and Chinzanso (Tokyo) (Japanese Lifestyle). Famous gardeners of this period include 7th generation Jihe Ogawa, known as Ueji, and innovative dry landscape garden designer Mirei Shigemori. (Japanese Lifestyle)
A catalogue of features "typical" of the Japanese garden may be drawn up without inquiring deeply into the aesthetic underlying Japanese practice. Typical Japanese gardens have at their center a home from which the garden is viewed. In addition to residential architecture, depending on the archetype, Japanese gardens often contain several of these elements:
Traditional styles:
Karesansui gardens (枯山水) or "dry landscape” gardens were influenced mainly by Zen Buddhism and can be found at Zen temples of meditation (Japan Guide). Unlike other traditional gardens, there is no water present in Karesansui gardens. However, there is raked gravel or sand that simulates the feeling of water. The rocks or gravel used are chosen for their artistic shapes, and mosses as well as small shrubs are used to further garnish the Karesansui style (Japanese Lifestyle). All in all, the rocks and moss are used to represent ponds, islands, boats, seas, rivers, and mountains in an abstract way (Japan Guide). - Example: Ryōan-ji, temple in Kyoto, has a garden famous for representing this style. Daisen-in, created in 1513, is also particularly renowned.
Tsukiyama Gardens often copy famous landscapes from China or Japan, and they commonly strive to make a smaller garden appear more spacious (Japan Guide). This is accomplished by utilizing shrubs to block views of surrounding buildings, and the garden's structure usually tries to make onlookers focus on nearby mountains in the distance (Japanese Lifestyle). By doing this, it seems that the garden has the mountains as part of its grounds. Ponds, streams, hills, stones, trees, flowers, bridges, and paths are also used frequently in this style (Japan Guide).
Chaniwa Gardens are built for holding tea ceremonies. There is usually a tea house where the ceremonies occur, and the styles of both the hut and garden are based on the simple concepts of the sado (Japan Guide). Usually, there are stepping stones leading to the tea house, stone lantern, and stone basins (tsukubai) where guests purify themselves before a ceremony(Japan Guide).
Japanese gardens might also fall into one of these styles:
Other gardens also use similar rocks for decoration, some of which come from distant parts of Japan. In addition, bamboos and related plants, evergreens including Japanese black pine, and such deciduous trees as maples grow above a carpet of ferns and mosses.
Though often thought of as tranquil sanctuaries that allow individuals to escape from the stresses of daily life, Japanese gardens are designed for a variety of purposes. Some gardens invite quiet contemplation, but may have also been intended for recreation, the display of rare plant specimens, or the exhibition of unusual rocks.
Kaiyu-shiki or Strolling Gardens require the observer to walk through the garden to fully appreciate it. A premeditated path takes observers through each unique area of a Japanese garden. Uneven surfaces are placed in specific spaces to prompt people to look down at particular points. When the observer looks up, they will see an eye-catching ornamentation which is intended to enlighten and revive the spirit of the observer. This type of design is known as the Japanese landscape principle of "hide and reveal".
Stones are used to construct the garden's paths, bridges, and walkways. Stones can also represent a geological presence where actual mountains are not viewable or present. They are sometimes placed in odd numbers and a majority of the groupings reflect triangular shapes, which often are the mountains of China.
A water source in a Japanese garden should appear to be part of the natural surroundings; this is why one will not find fountains in traditional gardens. Man-made streams are built with curves and irregularities to create a serene and natural appearance. Lanterns are often placed beside some of the most prominent water basins (either a pond or a stream) in a garden. In some gardens one will find a dry pond or stream. Dry ponds and streams have as much impact as do the ones filled with water.
Green plants are another element of Japanese gardens. Japanese traditions prefer subtle green tones, but flowering trees and shrubs are also used. Many plants in imitated Japanese gardens of the West are indigenous to Japan, though some sacrifices must be made to account for the differentiating climates. Some plants, such as sugar maple and firebush, give the garden a broader palette of seasonal color.
Many poems were inspired and written about the different Japanese Gardens. An example of the poems written includes:
After the tea ceremony was refined by Sen Rikyu, the tea garden, house, and utensils all served as a way to “awaken consciousness and to realize with humility our relationship with all that is around us and with the universe itself(Miller).” Also, tea ceremonies were partly designed to teach participants how to gain absolute control over body and mind (Kato p. 27). As a result, "it emphasizes not disconnection but connection between body movement and mind (Kato p. 27)." Culturally, the Japanese followed the five Confucian virtues (loyalty, righteousness, politeness, wisdom, and trust) to ground these tea ceremony ideals off of (Kato p. 27). In short, the tea ceremonies were a cultural activity to teach Japanese/Confucian virtues that were important for life.
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.[18] 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.
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.
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.[21] Conder's principles have sometimes proved hard to follow:
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.[2]
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