BRIDGING THE GAPS
By Henry Funtecha

Japanese gardens

(Note: The writer was in Japan in November 2004)

Japanese gardens are known to nature-lovers from all over the world. They are found everywhere in Japan and are visited and admired not only by foreigners but by the Japanese themselves. Due to its popularity, one can even get to see Japanese gardens in places outside of Japan.

The main emphasis in Japanese garden is on natural scenic beauty, in contrast to the gardens of the West where the stress is on beauty of geometrical form. One must understand, however, that "natural scenic beauty" does not mean nature in its original, unchanged forms. Rather, natural materials such as rocks, trees and shrubs are used to depict or emphasize the forms and features of the natural landscape, thereby creating a man-made spatial beauty with harmonious unity that is both beautiful and soothing to the eyes.

The history of landscape garden in Japan spans a thousand years, during which styles have changed as one generation gave way to the next. The styles follow a certain pattern or form and are generally attached to the historical periods by which they became popular. There is the miniature artificial hill style or tsukiyama, where a central pond symbolizes the sea, and mounds of rocks, the hill. This was especially popular during the Heian era in the 8 th to the 12 th century. There is the karesansui or dry garden style in which the sea is symbolized not by water but by a layer of white sand. The sand is given a pattern of furrows to represent the rippling movement of the water, and waterfalls are represented by an arrangement of blue rocks. Then, there is the shakkei-en or borrowed scenery that utilizes the views of surrounding mountains and ocean in addition to the central landscape. The aim of this particular art is to provide opportunities for landscape composition, similar to a visual artist creating a landscape on canvas.

The idea of a Japanese garden was strongly influenced by cultural borrowings coming from China, especially philosophy, religion and fine arts. The concept of nature in Zen philosophy was also closely connected to the trend in Indian paintings and gardens. Buddhist monks took an active part in conceptualizing and making gardens from early times to the more recent era. Later, Zen Buddhists took over the task to demonstrate their artistic skills and talents in the rear gardens of Zen temples throughout Japan. Since, generally, their gardens were small due to limited space, the design became more simple and intensive, especially in places where water was scarce. This eventually became the common feature of Japanese gardens up to modern times.