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 Zenpriests, 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.
Types of gardens
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-niwaconsists 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.
Characteristic features
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.