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Japanese gardens first appeared on the island of Honshu, the large central island of Japan. Their aesthetic was influenced by the distinct characteristics of the Honshu landscape: rugged volcanic peaks, narrow valleys, mountain streams with waterfalls and cascades, lakes, and beaches of small stones.
Feb 2, 2023 · The history of Japanese gardens dates back to the Asuka period (592-710), when Japan first began to establish relationships with the Asian continent. During this time, Japan adopted many elements of Chinese culture, including garden design.
- Overview
- Types of gardens
- Characteristic features
Japanese garden, in landscape design, a type of garden whose major design aesthetic is a simple, minimalist natural setting designed to inspire reflection and meditation.
The art of garden making was probably imported into Japan from China or Korea. Records show that the imperial palaces had gardens by the 5th century ce, their chief characteristic being a pond with an islet connected to the shore by bridges—as is shown by later references to these precedents in Emperor Shōmu’s (724–756) three gardens in Nara. During the Heian period (794–1185), when the symmetrical shinden style of architecture prevailed, the main garden was laid out on the southern side of the house. With the change of domestic architecture in the Kamakura period (1192–1333), however, came modifications of the garden. Learned Zen priests, who assiduously studied the art of garden making, gave Buddhistic names to different rocks in the design and linked religio-philosophic principles with landscape lore. Other beliefs further complicated garden design. With the Muromachi period (1338–1573) came popularization of gardens, which were designed to be enjoyed not only as views to contemplate but as microcosms to explore. The subjective mood became dominant and the gardens reflected individuality. People demanded shibumi in their gardens—an unassuming quality in which refinement underlies a commonplace appearance, perceptible only to a cultivated taste. Aesthetic priests, “tea men,” and connoisseurs created new forms of gardens for cha-shitsu, the little pavilions or rooms built for the chanoyu (tea ceremony), and a special style developed which revolutionized Japanese garden art.
Japanese gardens are generally classified according to the nature of the terrain, either tsuki-yama (“artificial hills”) or hira-niwa (“level ground”), each having particular features. Tsuki-yama consists of hills and ponds, and hira-niwa consists of flat ground designed to represent a valley or moor; tsuki-yama may include a portion laid out as hira-niwa. Each type may, furthermore, be treated in any one of the three degrees of elaboration mentioned. Hill gardens as a rule include a stream and a pond of real water, but there is a special variation, the kare-sansui (dried-up landscape) style, in which rocks are composed to suggest a waterfall and its basin and, for a winding stream or a pond, gravel or sand is used to symbolize water or to suggest seasonally dried-up terrain.
There are other styles: sen-tei (“water garden”); rin-sen (“forest and water”); and, in level gardens, bunjin (“literary scholar”), a simple and small style typically integrating bonsai. The tea garden, or roji (“dewy ground or lane”), is another distinct garden style evolved to meet the requirements of the tea ceremony. Genkansaki (“front of entrance”) have always claimed special treatment—a simple curve in the path is used whenever possible, partly to conceal the door to the house and partly to give character to its front aspect.
Japanese gardens are characterized by: the waterfall, of which there are ten or more different arrangements; the spring and stream to which it gives rise; the lake; hills, built up from earth excavated from the basin for the lake; islands; bridges of many varieties; and the natural guardian stones. The selection and effective distribution of the stones are a prime consideration in garden design. After endless experiments and deep pondering, the best and most subtle compositions were handed down by means of drawings. A studied irregularity in the arrangement of stepping stones is a noteworthy feature of the chanoyu garden, where beauty and use are combined.
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In modern Japanese gardens, flowers are few and evergreens popular. Simplicity, restraint, and consistency are sought rather than gaiety, showiness, or the obvious variations of the seasons. Evergreen foliage is preferred to the changing aspect of deciduous trees, although maples and a few others are used. As in the case of stones, trees must be distributed in the garden in harmony with their natural origin and habit of growth. Wells, decorative and useful alike, stone water basins in endless variety, stone lanterns and figures, pagodas, arbours, and summer houses are the most characteristic garden furnishings. Together with gateways and fences—particularly the widely varying sode-gaki (“sleeve fences”) attached to the side of a house to screen certain portions—these elements harmonize the natural beauty of the garden with the architectural features of the house.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Sep 11, 2023 · Japanese gardens trace their roots back to China, where the art of garden design flourished during the Tang Dynasty. It was during the Heian Period in Japan (794-1185) that the first Japanese gardens started to take shape.
Japanese Zen gardens were originally created as spaces for self-reflection and connection with one's inner self (Credit: Miano Tabata/ JLC)
Dec 5, 2014 · Read a history of the development of Japanese gardens from the Chinese influences of the Nara Period to later Zen dry stone gardens.
Jul 26, 2023 · Like many aspects of Japanese culture during the sixth to eighth centuries, garden schemes were greatly influenced by earlier Chinese models, mimicking the artificial hills and pavilions that characterised outdoor spaces in the Tang Dynasty.
