The Art of the Japanese Garden. David Young
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Detail of a river emptying into a pond, from the gardening manual Tsukiyama Teizōden (Building Mountains and Making Gardens).
Autumn foliage at Tenryūji, Kyoto, the original “borrowed landscape” garden. The focus of the garden is the pond lying at the base of hills rising to Mount Arashi.
Waterfalls
Waterfalls are used to indicate where water enters a pond, to highlight a scene or to provide a focus. If a natural cascade is not available, an artificial waterfall is created by directing water over a cliff formed by planting rocks on a vertical face cut from a hill. The top is often obscured by vegetation to create the illusion of indeterminate height.
There are several varieties of waterfall. In some, water drops directly from a cliff whereas in others it descends in stages over river rocks. The early gardening manual Sakuteiki lists nine types of waterfalls, a classification system that provided the basis for the following categories still in use today: “right and left-falling” (divided into two cascades), “side-falling” (falling on one side only), “front-falling,” “folding-falling” (falling in a series of falls), “stepped-falling,” “wide-falling” (wide in proportion to its height), “heaven-falling” (falling from a great height), “thread-falling” (falling in thin lines), and “linen-falling” (falling in thin sheets).
Garyūkyō stepping stones in the Dragon Pond at Heian Shrine, salvaged from the supporting pillars of the Sanjō and Gojō bridges in Kyoto. The interconnected ponds in the garden are graced by lavish plantings of flowers, trees and water plants.
The 7-meter (23-foot)-high Midoritaki waterfall on the north edge of Hisago Pond at Kenrokuen was created in 1774 by the eleventh Maeda lord Harunaka, who held a large tea party to mark the completion of the waterfall. By this time, rock formations associated with waterfalls seem to have lost the religious symbolism they had in earlier gardens, such as Tenryūji.
BRIDGES
Like walls and fences, bridges are almost endless in their variety of shapes, materials and means of construction. The main variables for common types of bridges are as follows:
Shape: arched (soribashi) or flat (hirabashi)
Alignment: straight, staggered or zigzag
Materials: stones or logs covered with organic materials such as bark and sod
Construction: suspended with a center support, suspended with no center support, wood or stone slabs resting on multiple supports, or stepping stones planted directly in the pond or stream bed
Character: refined or rustic
Arched bridges (soribashi) can be either painted red or left unpainted. When a log bridge is covered with cedar bark and dirt, upon which moss or grass is encouraged to grow, it is referred to as a dobashi. Stone bridges (ishibashi) employ either natural or cut rocks and are generally used to cross streams running into ponds. Covered bridges with benches, seldom seen in gardens today, are called rōkyō or kurehashi. Rustic slab or stepping stone bridges are suitable for Tea and Sukiya style gardens whereas ornate wooden or cut stone bridges help create a more formal atmosphere.
arustic arched bridge made of logs covered with mud and grass
brefined arched bridge made of cut stone
cflat single-slab stone bridge with no center support
dflat two-slab stone bridge with center support
earched single-slab stone bridge with no center support
fflat wooden bracket bridge
gflat wooden bridge with staggered planks supported on pillars sunk in the stream or pond bed
hflat wooden bridge with a zigzag pattern
istepping stones sunk directly in the stream or pond bed
DECORATIVE ELEMENTS
In contrast to structural elements such as stones, trees and ponds, decorative elements or artifacts add a human touch to a natural scene. Some also have practical uses. For example, lanterns light the pathways in gardens and water basins are used for purification prior to a tea ceremony. Artifacts such as Buddhist statues and miniature pagodas normally have sacred connotations but in a garden context they are used purely for decoration.
The famous two-legged stone lantern at Kenrokuen Garden, Kanazawa, is called Kotoji because its shape resembles the bridge that supports the strings of a koto, a classical musical instrument.
Lanterns
It is said that Sen-no-Rikyū, the great Momoyama Period tea master, became intrigued by the hanging bronze Buddhist votive lamps in a cemetery on the outskirts of Kyoto and decided to use lanterns to provide illumination for evening tea ceremonies. Though the early garden lanterns were bronze, eventually stone and wood came into use. Lanterns were placed by the gate; along paths, ponds or streams; near a bridge or water basin; by a waiting arbor; or next to the entrance of the teahouse. It was not considered tasteful, however, to use lanterns in all of these locations. As in most things connected with the tea ceremony, understatement was the key. Other design principles include planting a tree beside a lantern so that one branch hangs over the top or front. Also, stone lanterns often are included in a rock composition in which the lantern is flanked by two or three stones of lesser height.
Two basic types of stone lantern are those made of natural stones that are reworked just enough so that they can be stacked, with a lamp housing in the center, and those made of cut stone such as granite. The former are used when a rustic touch is desired, as in a tea roji, whereas the latter are suitable for more conventional gardens. A more elaborate classification system divides stone lanterns into four types: pedestal lanterns in which the shaft rests on a base (tachigata); buried lanterns in which the shaft is sunk into the ground and thus does not require a base (ikekomigata); snow scene lanterns that have legs instead of a shaft as well as a large, relatively flat roof to catch and hold snow (yukimigata); and small “set” lanterns that are used where space is limited or where their function is to provide illumination without attracting attention (okigata).
Within each type there is a great deal of variation since designers have always had considerable leeway in selecting and combining potential design elements. Some designs are named after a Buddhist temple or shrine where the design originated whereas others are named after tea masters who created them for their own gardens. Over time, new designs have been invented, some of which