Japanese Garden

San Mateo: Japanese tea garden

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.

Kinkaku Temple, Kyōto, Japan

Katsura Imperial Gardens

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.

The succeeding vogue of designing in three different degrees of elaboration—shin, gyo, and so (“elaborate,” “intermediate,” and “abbreviated”)—was also adopted for gardens. Many splendid gardens were produced in the Momoyama (1574–1600) and Edo (1603–1867) periods. The centre of garden activity gradually shifted, however, from Kyoto to Edo (Tokyo), seat of the Tokugawa shogun. At one stage there was a utilitarian development: a duck pond was added in the Hama detached palace in Tokyo and, in the Koraku-yen at Mito, space was made for the cultivation of reeds for arrow shafts and plums for military supplies. Feudal lords generally had fine gardens in their provincial homes as well. Quite a number of gardens survived the abolition of the feudal system after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, yet many celebrated gardens perished through neglect or were sacrificed to modern progress. The establishment of public parks, which were not unknown even in feudal times, was especially encouraged throughout Japan from 1873. Gardens in Western style came in with other Western modes but made little headway. The great earthquake and fire of 1923 demonstrated a utilitarian value of the Tokyo gardens: tens of thousands found safety in the parks and in large private gardens scattered throughout the city.