The essence of Japanese gardens
There is no simple definition of what constitutes a Japanese garden, nor is there a single style. To western eyes, two of the most striking elements are stone lanterns and beds of raked gravel, but neither on its own is enough to make a garden Japanese.
Compositional beauty
Composition is important in any garden, but what distinguishes a Japanese garden is the beauty achieved through a blend of natural plants, sand, water and rock. The aim is not simply to achieve an aesthetic effect, but draws its inspiration from the two main religions in Japan - Shinto and Buddhism.
Spiritual inspiration
From the earliest times, Japanese have regarded places surrounded by natural rocks as dwelling places of the gods. So, too, with dense clusters of trees; and water has traditionally encircled sacred ground. It is in these ancient Shinto beliefs that the creative origin of Japanese gardening lies.
When
Buddhism entered Japan in the 6th century, it brought new intellectual conventions
that also found their way into garden design. The earliest of these was the use
of gardens to represent the Buddhist vision of paradise. Then, from about the
14th century, Zen Buddhist doctrine gave rise to one of the most important concepts
of Japanese gardening - the symbolic expression of a whole universe in a limited
space. Various ingenious devices were used to achieve such effects - raked sand
or gravel to represent a river or the ocean, rocks to represent islands or mountains,
and miniature trees to represent a whole forest.
Gardens acquired an almost pictorial delicacy of composition that could endure long and studied observation - a very different concept from western gardening, which often seeks to delight with a profusion of colours.
A parting of the ways
When
peace returned to Japan in the late 16th century after many years of internal
strife, successful samurai expressed their confidence through bold garden design,
grouping boulders in unique shapes and striking colours, and surrounding them
with exotic plants. Such ostentatious design was shunned by the great master of
the tea ceremony, Sen no Rikyu, who sought inspiration for his tea garden (roji
niwa) in the desolate tranquility of a mountain trail. This was symbolized
through such elements as stepping stones, stone lanterns, stone wash basins and
groves of trees. Although the more restrained design seems to be regarded by many
as the "true spirit" of Japanese gardens, recent examples of the more
brash style are still easy to find in Japan today, particularly in the suburban
belt around Tokyo.
A synthesis of styles
The long period of prosperity the Tokugawa shoguns brought to Japan from the beginning of the 17th century gave birth to yet another style of Japanese gardening - a synthesis of all that had gone before. This came to be known as kaiyu (many pleasures), in which various gardens - often round a central pond - were constructed, displaying striking changes of scene to visitors as they wandered around the garden. It also gave birth to what is now regarded as one of the most important elements of a Japanese garden - shakkei (borrowed views).
Shakkei - using nature as a natural backdrop
The concept of reproducing nature in miniature has run throughout the centuries of garden design, and it was only natural that nature itself should be co-opted. Distant hills in the background and other topographical features were "borrowed" and integrated into the perspective of the garden. The garden and nature seemed to become one, but it's a subtle combination of the two - and one that all but the most skillful of garden designers can so easily get wrong.