Gardens as Semantic Landscapes: A Reflection on Design and Spirituality
Far from being mere horticultural spaces, gardens often serve as semantic landscapes. Much like religious paintings, they offer tangible representations of abstract concepts, allowing us to visualize the unseen. A striking example is the rock garden at Chion-in Temple in Kyoto. Amidst a sea of vibrant azaleas, the carefully arranged rocks symbolize Amida Buddha and […]
Borrowed scenery 2
As I mentioned in the previous blog about borrowed scenery, we cannot control the scenery beyond gardens. Your neighbor’s big house might block a nice view. Therefore, this garden technique may not be versatile. We can use borrowed scenery under some limited conditions only. In Kyoto city, there are a lot of Japanese gardens. We […]
Garden for Pure Land
Historically, no matter where it is, some gardens have been the place where people materialize their ideal world. Gardens in Japan are no exception. Buddhism was introduced to Japan in the sixth century. Then, it made people visualize the image of the place where they wanted to be after death. Sukhāvatī, or Gokuraku-Jodo in Japanese, […]
Imperfection in Japanese gardens
“The flow of the river never ceases, and the water never stays the same…” This is the opening phrase of Hojoki, a famous Japanese essay by Kamono Chomei in the 13 century. Almost all Japanese children learn this in their schools. I think that transience is something that many Japanese hold in their minds, which […]
Shishi-Odoshi as a garden element
Shishi-Odoshi, or scare-deer is a device to frighten deer away. It is a unique garden element that you can see in residential gardens in Japan now. As you see in the photo below, a bamboo tube is set like a seesaw. when the open cut side has water in, the bamboo tube flips. And then […]
