The art of Japanese gardening is known all around the world for being an example of how beautiful nature can be put into aesthetically pleasing forms. Gardening has been an art form in Japan for hundreds of years so let’s take a closer look. 

The earliest recorded Japanese gardens were the pleasure gardens of the Japanese Emperors and nobles. They are mentioned in several brief passages of the first chronicle of Japanese history, published in 720 AD. 
Japanese gardens are traditional gardens that create miniature idealized landscapes, often in a highly abstract and stylized way. The gardens of the Emperors and nobles were designed for recreation and aesthetic pleasure, while the gardens of Buddhist temples were designed for contemplation and meditation.

Japanese garden styles include, rock gardens or Zen gardens, which are meditation gardens where white sand replaces water; roji, simple, rustic gardens with teahouses where the tea ceremony is conducted; there is a promenade or a stroll garden, where the visitor follows a path around the garden to see carefully composed landscapes and small courtyard gardens.

Japanese gardens were developed under the influences of the Chinese gardens, but gradually Japanese garden designers began to develop their own aesthetics, based on Japanese materials and Japanese culture. By the Edo period, the Japanese garden had its own distinct appearance. Since the end of the 19th century, Japanese gardens have also been adapted to Western settings.
Japanese gardens always have water, either a pond or stream, or, in the dry rock garden, represented by white sand. In Buddhist symbolism, water and stone are the yin and yang, two opposites that complement and complete each other. A traditional garden will usually have an irregular-shaped pond or, in larger gardens, two or more ponds connected by a channel or stream, and a cascade, a miniature version of Japan’s famous mountain waterfalls.

Have you ever been to a Japanese garden? It’ll get warmer from now on so you might want to check out the closest Japanese garden on the sunny days that’ll follow. If you’re in Fukuoka, there’s a beautifully arranged garden in the Ōhori park for you to explore.