Japanese people have always valued nature. This is evident especially in their homes or in their natural parks. You would often times see Japanese homes having a garden lush with green or a simple small spot in the house filled with bonsais. Japanese people love gardening and its related art. Their gardens are magnificent both in plant varieties and in creativity.
Seyemon Kusumoto, a famous landscape gardener, was quoted saying that Japanese make the best of nature’s handiwork even in a limited space. Japanese gardens of today are no longer trapped in the traditional Japanese approach and Japanese designs. In fact, because of globalization and modernization, Japanese gardens can be seen with significant improvements and infusion with traditional Western gardening approaches. You can immediately identify a Japanese garden just be observing the key pieces in it. When you first go into a home, you can immediately see the garden once you entered the center of it. Japanese gardens are made so that it is visible when you are in the center of the house or in a room. Go outside into the garden and check to see any signs of water whether it is real or symbolic. Japanese gardens usually have bridges constructed over water, stepping stones, some stone arrangements, lanterns, a pavilion or a tea house, and is surrounded by an enclosure usually in the form of a hedge, wall or a fence.
Gardens in Japan can be divided into three major types. The division is based upon their form, appearance, and function. Yes, Japanese men build their gardens not just for beauty but also for function. The three major styles of the traditional Japanese garden are karesansui gardens, tsukiyama gardens, and chaniwa gardens.
Karesansui gardens are influenced by Zen Buddhism and are quite unlike many Japanese garden styles. This Japanese garden style does not feature any water body or forms of it but it does feature rocks and moss prominently. The most famous example for this style is the Ryoan-ji temple in Kyoto. Tsukiyama gardens are styles used when space is limited. The style uses sophisticated techniques copied usually from China in order to make a garden look more spacious than it actually physically is. Chaniwa gardens, on the other hand, are used mainly for tea ceremonies. Because of this, the main feature of chaniwa gardens is a house or a hut in the middle of the garden with a path laden with stones and sometimes gravel. The path is accentuated by stone lanterns and stone basins which can be used by the guests to purify themselves before having the tea ceremony.
Other Japanese garden styles include kanshoh style, pond gardens, and strolling gardens. If you ever decide that you want a beautiful garden in your spacious (even the not-so-spacious backyard) you can simply opt to research and decorate your garden like old Japanese do. Achieving authentic Japanese garden look is difficult to achieve but with the right amount of determination and some creative ideas aided by the almighty World Wide Web, you can surely achieve such look. Moreover, you can build a Japanese Garden Bridge over your already installed pool or pond for a step closer to the look you want.
