Japanese gardens (日本庭園, nihon teien), gardens in traditional Japanese
style, can be found at private homes, in neighborhood or city parks, at Buddhist
temples or Shinto shrines, and at historical landmarks such as old castles. Many
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
simplicity. Japanese gardens have also been imitated in Western gardening.
style, can be found at private homes, in neighborhood or city parks, at Buddhist
temples or Shinto shrines, and at historical landmarks such as old castles. Many
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
simplicity. Japanese gardens have also been imitated in Western gardening.
* Water
* An island
* A bridge to the island
* A lantern, typically of stone
* A teahouse or pavilion
Japanese gardens might fall into one of these styles:
* Strolling gardens, for viewing from a path
* Sitting gardens, for contemplating from one place, such as the tiny tsuboniwa
found in machiya (traditional wooden townhouses).
Tsukiyama - Gardens ponds, streams, hills, stones, trees, flowers, bridges and
paths are used to create a miniature reproduction of a natural scenery which is
often a famous landscape in China or Japan. The name Tsukiyama refers to the
creation of artificial hills. Tsukiyama gardens vary in size and in the way they are
viewed. Smaller gardens are usually enjoyed from a single viewpoint, such as the
veranda of a temple, while many larger gardens are best experienced by
following a circular scrolling path.
Karesansui (枯山水) or Zen, Japanese rock garden, is an enclosed shallow
sandbox containing sand, gravel, rocks, and occasionally grass or other natural
elements. The main elements of karesansui are rocks and sand, with the sea
symbolized not by water but by sand raked in patterns that suggest rippling
water. Plants are much less important (and sometimes nonexistent) in many
karesansui gardens. Karesansui gardens are often, but not always, meant to be
viewed from a single, seated perspective, and the rocks are often associated with
and named after various Chinese mountains.
Chaniwa - gardens are built for the tea ceremony. They contain a tea house
where the actual ceremony is held and are designed in aesthetic simplicity
according to the concepts of sado (tea ceremony). Chaniwa gardens typically
feature stepping stones that lead towards the tea house, stone lanterns and a
stone basin (tsukubai), where guests purify themselves before participating in the
ceremony.
Shakkei (借景), "borrowed scenery," is a technique Japanese gardeners use to
make a small garden seem more spacious. By judiciously planting shrubs to
block the view of nearby structures, they encourage the viewer to look up toward
the mountains, and to think of them as part of the garden.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Things not looking right? Site Best Viewed with FireFox |
|
|
|