by Nigel Spaven Add a Touch of Japanese Style to Your Garden – 30 Simple IdeasMs Yin & Mr Yang’s Garden Design Book Index A new, self-published book about how to turn a garden Japanese. Or merely give it a Japanese touch. Different then other books of the same genre,...Continue Reading
The Rikugien garden was initially built by Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu from 1695 until 1702. In 1868 it was purchased by Iwasaki Yataro who remodeled the garden to his needs but kept the heart of the garden – the theme of Waka poetry. However, he added many elements. So also the Hōraijima...Continue Reading
Hi there! You’re in Tokyo? Maybe staying at Tokyo Family Stay’s Conoe Sanbancho’s Apartment?And you would like to see a park or garden? Then let’s go for a walk! A walk around and through the Tokyo Imperial Palace! Of course, you can start on any side of the Imperial Palace...Continue Reading
Today, we want to explore two popular elements in Japanese gardens. The picture of the turtle and the crane. For this, we will take the garden of Koichi-in in Kyoto as an example, where we have both elements as a rock setting (island) in one garden. However, these pictures can...Continue Reading
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...Continue Reading
Yeah! It‘s this time of year again!I am always happy when December is close and I can decide the pictures for the next Japanese garden calendar. This year, I have looked up which pictures were the most popular on our Instagram account over the last twelve months. Of course, I...Continue Reading
Bridges are an element in the Japanese garden, that is often neglected in the literature. After the main elements, water, rocks, and plants, the stone lanterns follow as the next most often mentioned element. Or so it seems. Today, I would like to put the focus on bridges. What types...Continue Reading
The way how ponds were built in Japan changed massively over time. In this article I want to introduce the ancient way and the more recent methods. Let’s begin when rich people wanted to build private gardens in the outskirts of Kyoto in as early as the Heian period (794-1185)....Continue Reading
A lot of words connected to pine pruning we want to explore today! While midoritsumi みどり摘み and momiage 揉み上げ are already well known when it comes to pine pruning, there is still so much more to explore, even beyond the terms I will explain today. All techniques and examples I am showing,...Continue Reading
Top > Gardens Overview > Famous Gardens > Other Regions > Sengan-en Sengan-en（仙巌園） Sengan-en was built as a second residence by Shimadzu Mitsuhisa, 19th head of the Shimadzu family, in 1658. The garden covers an area of approximately 50,000㎡ and is designated as meishō (名勝) – a national place of...Continue Reading
