Overview of Japanese Garden
Japanese gardens originated from attempts to incorporate, in the proximity of buildings or in an urban setting, the sorts of natural scenery one might find near sacred Shinto precints (including tumulus burial sites from the Tumulus and Asuka periods). The earliest mention of gardens in historical records is in the Asuka period (593-710), in an account of the garden-building technicians and techniques which were brought from the Korean kingdom of Paekche (called "Kudara" by the Japanese) for a garden at the residence of statesman Soga no Umako, calling forth much interest among the populace. Excavations at the sites of some of these earliest gardens in the Asuka region south of Nara have uncovered such garden adornments as shumisenishi, which were stone models of the mythical "Mt. Sumeru" of Buddhist lore, and anthropomorphic stone figures, often in droll poses. From excavations made at the site of the Nara-period Heijo Palace and, in recent years, from the sites of gardens near residences in the Heian-period capital Heiankyo (later called Kyoto), one can detect multiple styles of building gardens around a central pond. Though reflecting styles brought from the Asian continent, these styles developed distinctive features in Japan.
In the Heian period(794-1185), the so-called shinden-zukuri garden style was developed, and in the outskirts of Heiankyo many gardens were built which utilized features of the natural topography and environment. With the rising popularity of the "Pure Land" variety of Buddhist faith, gardens of the so-called "Pure Land" style (jodo-shiki teien) were built at certain temples, blending harmoniously with the temple architecture. These trends were continued into the Kamakura period, taking on a coloration reminding one ever more strongly of the "real world" outside. These trends were developed by Muso Kokushi, toward the end of the Kamakura period (1185-1333), into gardens which symbolized the world view and the special view of nature developed by the Zen variety of Buddhism.
In the Muromachi period (1333-1568), the karesansui ("dry landscape") style of rock gardens, featuring carefully raked expanses of small pebbles, was perfected and came to be seen at many Zen temples. Accompanying the development of the tea ceremony (sado) in the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1600), a quite new type of garden, known as the chaniwa or roji, came to be built in conjunction with the new "grass-hut style" of teahouse. In the Edo period the various feudal lords (daimyo) bent their energies to vying with one another in the laying out of gardens, and large gardens of a type that came to be known as the "walk-around style" (kaiyu-shiki) were built in many places throughout Japan. A major characteristic of Japanese gardens is that more attention is put into arranging natural forms in a beautiful way than into attempts to alter nature. A spirit of boundless reverence for nature is expressed in the way naturally occurring stone outcroppings are often used to define a garden's "foundations" or in the frequently used shakkei technique of incorporating surrounding natural features to enhance a garden's aesthetic appeal.
