garden highlight
Yukizuri – 雪吊り
Hamarikyu garden When visiting Japanese gardens in winter, one will recognize some strange ropes and mats around the pine trees and some other plants. These are called Yukizuri 雪吊り and Fuyugakui 冬囲い. Both are meant to protect the trees from the weight of snow. In Tokyo there is seldom so much snow, that the trees need […]
Japan Garden Travel Guide: Planning a Trip to Japan
Planning a Trip to Japan: A Guide for Garden Enthusiast Planning a trip to Japan is an exciting journey, especially if you’re passionate about gardens. Here’s a comprehensive Japan garden travel guide to help you design the perfect itinerary, focusing on the best seasons, destinations, and accommodations for your garden-themed trip. Best Time to Visit […]
The Ninomaru Garden of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo
It’s already been a week since I am back to work and it passed too fast! However, now I had time to finish and publish our new eBook about the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. HOW TO ENTER When I first visited the Imperial Palace, I was quite confused by the entrance procedure… Although there is […]
The manifold interpretations of Ryoan-ji – an excerpt
虎の子渡し – Tiger family crossing a river 碧巌録に示された臥龍 – Sleeping dragon 星座カシオペヤ – The constellation Cassiopeia 心の字 – Heart character 京都盆地を囲む五山 – Five mountains surrounding Kyoto 光の反射板 – Reflecting of Light 満月を巡る – The moon phases around the full moon Today I want to dig deeper into the manifold interpretations of Ryoan-jis zen garden. Surely, […]
Osmanthus fragrans – キンモクセイ – 金木犀
Plant Profile: Osmanthus fragrans Ancient Greek: osmḗ = fragrance, ánthos = flower Latin: fragrans = fragrance English: Sweet olive, tea olive, fragrant olive Flower period in Japan: middle of September – end of October Color of flowers: Orange Soil: rich fertile soil, well drained garden soil Exposition: from sun to shade. Harsh afternoon sun in […]
Stone Lanterns in the Japanese garden
The next garden element on my list is the stone lantern. Everyone knows the beautiful withered lanterns made of natural or hewn rocks. Today I want to talk about their origin and use in the Japanese garden. Origin Lanterns weren‘t always a garden element. They were invented in a religious context during the Tang Dynasty […]
Chozubachi – Hachimae – Tsukubai: Water basins
The next garden element on my list is the water basin! I guess, the best-known examples for these water basins are the ones in front of Japanese shrines but also the ones in Japanese tea gardens. Both are meant to symbolically purify oneself before entering a special place. To fulfill this, we are washing our […]
Treasure Ship – 宝船 ・ Ship Stone – 船石 explained
What I always tried to find out was the relationship between the Treasure Ship (takarabune) with the Seven Lucky Gods (shichifukujin), and the Ship Stone (funaishi). Now that I stuck at home, I have time to investigate! Let’s start with a more or less short explanation of these three: Treasure Ship – takarabune – 宝船 This […]
[New eBook] Ryugon – a Ryokan in Niigata
You may remember my blog post about this Ryokan from back in early 2019. Now, one year later, I finally finished the eBook about this wonderful place and its gardens! Actually, I hoped for an opportunity to visit it after the renovations which took place until summer last year but it didn’t happen and I […]
The Use of Light in a Dry Landscape Garden
Sometimes I stumble upon phrases in texts about Japanese gardens. These phrases are actually common knowledge in the Japanese garden scene, yet, although it is widely spread and you can read about it in every book (or so it seems), in this one situation it always hits me as if I have never heard of […]