Kenroku-en in Kanazawa What’s behind the Three Great Gardens of Japan (Nihon Sanmeien)?Why were they chosen and what makes them great? We will explore this in the following article. Japanese people love top lists since ancient times. Very important is the Top 100, which could already experienced during the Edo...Continue Reading
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...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
Water is one of the three important elements in the Japanese garden. Today we want to explore how water is integrated into the garden design in form of ponds. Ponds in the Japanese garden differ, depending on the type of the garden, in size and shape. History of ponds in...Continue Reading
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...Continue Reading
Summer is a living nightmare for most in Japan with temperatures only getting higher in recent years. As a professional gardener living and working in Tokyo for the past seven years, I have no choice but to leave our lovely air-conditioned office and head to whichever garden we are...Continue Reading
You might think, real Japanese gardens can be found within Kyoto alone. Today I want to convince you that this is not true. There are also admirable gardens in Japan’s modern capital Tokyo. If you are already on my side, please read anyhow, you will see beautiful garden pictures and...Continue Reading
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...Continue Reading
I won’t show “bad example” pictures and link to bad articles here! If you search via Google, I am sure you will find a lot by yourself. When I see links promising me to teach me how to built a Japanese garden in only a few steps, I just can’t...Continue Reading
I hoped for some blog posts between the new eBook announcements, however, work kept me busy and I was not able to finish the two posts I already started.. That’s why, again, you can read about Real Japanese Gardens new eBook. But I think that’s not so bad either! Because...Continue Reading
