Japanese and Zen Gardens

According to author Wendy B. Murphy, the Japanese are one of the only civilizations who have been intimately and seriously involved with the creation and maintenance of gardens for thousands of years. These gardens, inspired by both the natural landscape of Japan and the animistic, native Japanese religion of Shinto represent a valued close relationship with nature -- in fact, living close to nature is the essence of Japanese life.

There are two main types of gardens we will see in Japan. The traditional type of garden seen is usually one with lots of water, flowers and abundant plant life. These traditional gardens were typically used for recreation by the Emperor or the upper class. The second type of garden came with the introduction of Buddhism, specifically Zen Buddhism, from the neighboring China. The Zen gardens are almost the complete opposite of the traditional gardens; bare and dry, Zen gardens intend for the observer the contemplate the meaning of each rock and grain of sand (Murphy).

One of the Japanese words for garden—niwa—came to mean a place that had been cleansed and purified in anticipation of the arrival of kami. Traditional Japanese gardens are strongly influenced by the Shinto reverence for great rocks, lakes, ancient trees, and other "dignitaries of nature" (learn.bowdoin.org). These traditional gardens provide means for achieving peace of mind and these gardens try to not only represent Japanese ideals, but also geography: water features are prominent, rocks are used to represent islands and animals, and trees and bamboo typically represent people. Until this century, such gardens were rarely opened to the public (thejapanesegarden.com).

Zen Gardens are those used and maintained by practitioners of Zen Buddhism. Seen typically as the ideal utopia of Buddha, the creation and maintenance of a Zen garden is seen as a Zen activity, as well as the contemplation and meditation after the act of maintenance (learn.bowdoin.org). These gardens are typically drier than the traditional Japanese garden; water is instead represented by sand and gravel, which in turn represent various other objects or ideas of spiritual importance. “Gravel is usually used in zen gardens, rather than sand, because it is less disturbed by rain and wind. The act of raking the gravel into a pattern recalling waves or rippling water has an aesthetic function. Zen priests practice this raking also to help their concentration” (Wikipedia). Rocks and gravel frequently represent the islands of Japan, surrounded by the sea.

The rocks or large stones seen in traditional Zen Gardens usually range between either two, three, five or seven rocks. Three rocks is the most common, with the tallest rock representing heaven, the shortest representing earth, and the middle rock is humanity, representing the bridge between heaven and earth (Wikipedia).

Below are some of the gardens we will see while on our trip! Most of these gardens are the traditional Japanese style with lots of water and plants, however, we will most likely see Zen gardens in the areas of Japan where Buddhism is popular.

Gardens at the Hase-Dera Temple (Kamakura, Japan)

Sensoji Temple Garden: (Tokyo, Japan)

Miyajima Island Garden:

Hakone Gardens: (Hakone, Japan)

Another city that is famous for its gardens is Kyoto, Japan. Here are some pictures of famous gardens in this city! For more information on gardens in Kyoto, see http://www.japanesegardens.jp/gardens/famous/kyoto.php

Ryoan-ji Zen Garden: (Kyoto, Japan) "The Temple of the Peaceful Dragon"

Many different theories have been put forward about what the Ryoan-ji garden is supposed to represent, from islands in a stream to theories about secrets of geometry or of the rules of equilibrium of odd numbers. Garden historian Gunter Nitschke wrote: "The garden at Ryōan-ji does not symbolize anything, or more precisely, to avoid any misunderstanding, the garden of Ryōan-ji does not symbolize, nor does it have the value of reproducing a natural beauty that one can find in the real or mythical world. I consider it to be an abstract composition of "natural" objects in space, a composition whose function is to incite meditation." (Wikipedia)

Nijo Castle Garden: (Kyoto, Japan)

"Nijo Castle was built in the early seventeenth century as a temporary Kyoto residence for the first Tokugawa Shogun. Its most famous garden is the one adjoining the Ninomaru Palace. Attributed to Kobori Enshu, it consists of a pond with three islands connected to the shore by bridges, the islands evoking Mt. Horai, the crane, and the turtle. Its large number of rocks has led some critics to view the garden as typical of the somewhat excessive designs of the Edo Period." (learn.bowdoin.edu).

--Sophie C, Class of 2015