Longing for the Coming of Spring
What tells you the coming of spring? It really depends on person. I happened to see a robin near my house the other day. It definitely was a sign of spring coming. One of my favorites when I think of spring is Japanese apricot or Ume in Japanese (Prunus mume). Its flowers open up in […]
Sansui- Mountains and Water in Japanese Gardens
At our talk in April in New York, among a variety of questions we were happy to receive, there was an interesting one that could be called a linguestic question: “What does sansui (山水) mean? Does it mean nature or a garden?” In Japanese, san (山) means a mountain and sui (水) means water. Combined, […]
Kamo River – Water to divide life and death
In Japan, people think that water sometimes becomes a border to divide two different worlds. Kamo River, which runs through Kyoto City, also used to be thought as the border to separate the world for the living from that for the dead. There was a crematory in the area called Toribeno. This area is located at […]
Cat’s Eye View of Japanese Architecture Vol.2 – Crawling
At the beginning of “I AM A CAT” by Soseki Natsume, an abandoned cat crawled through a gap in a bumboo fence looking for some food. It found itself in a yard of someone’s home and said “How strangely the wheel of fortune turns! Had it not been this gap, I might have starved to […]
Rain Chain – Supreme Alternative to Downspouts
Architects and home owners often detest downspouts; they are too functinal and ugly. I agree and usually place them inconspicuous locations. But I also know that there is a much better alternative: a rain chain. Rain chains are decorative chains installed at the nose of roofs or eaves in Japanese traditional architecture. Through them, rainwater tricles down gracefully. […]
