Gardens

The Japanese are famous for their gardens, from the water-less Zen gardens of gravel to those admired during tea ceremonies and to my favorite, those that try to re-create the famous views of Japan by using the surrounding scenery as a backdrop to incorporate into the space. Our first garden was the famous Kenroku-en in Kanazawa which was developed from the 1620s to 1840s. We arrived on an overnight train ride from Tokyo and a local kindly found out which bus we needed, waited with us and then told the driver where to drop us off! The garden is one of Japan’s Top 3 because it combines the 6 important elements of seclusion, spaciousness, artificiality, antiquity, abundant water and broad views (these are borrowed from the Chinese Sung dynasty).

It was a really pretty garden and had many different views as you strolled around the different lake, orchard, pine forest and mountain sections. There were little buildings in which to take tea or have an ice-cream (in Japan it’s always cheaper to buy inside the park than out oddly enough!) As our train arrived so early we had the place to ourselves but then a steady stream of visitors started to spoil the photo’s culminating in the mega-phone wielding tour groups.

Temple gardens often try to recreate nature in miniature and the Miyajima Daisho-in temple of the Shingon sect was my favourite in the whole of Japan. They had beautiful buildings, carp ponds, statue grotto’s and caves in amongst the trees leading up the side of the hill with wonderful views from the top. We were also served free herbal tea while we rested in the shade.

The gardens of the Heian Jingu Shrine in Kyoto were of the same style as those in Miyajima but on a much bigger scale. The temple dates from only 1895 and was built to commemorate the 1100th anniversary of the founding of Kyoto. The gardens are mostly water and we wished that we had brought our books to spend the day sitting on the bridge overlooking the lake.

Himeji is famous for its castle, but next to this are the Edo period recreated gardens of the samuri quarters called Koko-en. There are 9 gardens, all with a different feel to them. We particularly liked the tea house overlooking a large carp filled lake garden and the recreation of a waterfall where we sat in the cool of vine trellises until the mosquitoes drove us away.

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is one of the most important in Japan, though not really a garden in the traditional sense, it was moving as well as beautiful. The A-bomb dome stands across the river from the museums, cenotaph, flame of peace and the children’s peace monument. There are colourful paper crane displays that are donated by school children who fold them in memory of leukemia victim Sadake Sasaki and the other victims of the A-bomb.

~ by susan on Monday, December 14, 2009.