Home » Home & Garden » Landscaping » Other Landscaping

Japanese Gardens - There is a Zen to Their Beauty

Ranked #2,484 in Home & Garden, #36,926 overall

The Peace and Tranquility of a Japanese Zen Garden -- Can Refresh Your Soul and Your Spirit

Japanese gardens and Zen gardens have a unique arrangement and structure that makes them tranquil and peaceful places to relax, refresh, and rejuvenate your mind, body, and soul. Ancient garden planners and gardeners who would now be considered landscape architects created miniature worlds with their gardens, using rocks to represent islands and mountains, bonsai trees to represent normally large trees and forests, and ponds, streams, and waterfalls to represent larger water bodies such as lakes and oceans, rivers, and large waterfalls.

This Squidoo lens provides photos, narratives, and links to other references that will help you work on your own Japanese or Zen garden.

Contents at a Glance

Huge torii gate at entrance to Nara Shik...
Japanese Gardens -- Large or Small -- Co...
Torii Gate at the entrance to the Japane...
Deer Chaser -- Rocking bamboo clacker ve...
Decorative Japanese Gardens -- The Zen o...
Painted bridge (traditional colors) over...

Huge torii gate at entrance to Nara Shika Koen (Deer Park), Nara, Japan.

Japanese Gardens -- Large or Small -- Contain Essential Elements of Nature

Painted bridge (traditional colors) over stream, Japanese Garden at Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC, Canada.

It was when our family visited Japan for the first time (a very long time ago) that I saw my first Japanese garden. We had traveled to Japan during our Christmas vacation (my parents were teachers, so they had the last two weeks of December off as a holiday).

And yes, it was very cold--we had traveled to Japan from our new home on the Western Pacific Island of Guam, where we had been living for only a year, but it was time to check out something less "tropical".

Our first stop was in Tokyo... and we stayed at the Dai-Ichi Hotel on Tokyo's famous Ginza, which was just a few blocks away from the circular tower of the Sony Building and the ancient Kabuki theater and Shimbashi train station. The Dai-Ichi Hotel had a central courtyard that had a Japanese zen garden as a main attraction. Beautifully raked sand and gravel surrounded rocks (usually in sets of three in different sizes) with miniature bonsai evergreen trees and Japanese red maples. A stand of black bamboo also enhanced the place. A pump ran water through a miniature waterfall and stream which led to a pond full of large and colorful koi (carp) fish. It was beautiful in its simplicity.

After a few days of sightseeing, we took the Shinkansen "bullet train" through Nagoya to Osaka, where we stayed for a few days. Our hotel was the Osaka Palace hotel -- and it was across the street (you guessed it) from the Osaka Palace. We could see the tall tiled roofs of the buildings stretching above the massive stone walls surrounded by a moat that lined the street. And our hotel also had a central area with a Japanese garden--again festooned with bamboo, bonsai trees, Japanese maples, and the requisite koi pond and rocks layout.

After some exploring in Osaka, we continued on to Kyoto, where this time, we stayed at a traditional Japanese inn -- a ryokan. This establishment was built in the traditional style--two storey, all wood, shined wooden floors in the common areas and decks, and tatami mats in the guest rooms. Our beds consisted of futons that were pulled out from wall cabinets and assembled each night for us by the maids. Most fascinating were the sliding paper and glass doors at the outer edge of our room... and when we pulled those doors aside to see the view, we saw a tiny, yet impressive Japanese garden--full of bamboo, the gravel-lined stream, a koi pond, and a lit Japanese stone lantern. Although we would have enjoyed seeing that view each day, we decided that it was too cold to keep those two sets of sliding doors open for just the view.

In Kyoto, we took some side tours-- which took us to the Kinkaku-ji "Golden Temple", the Ginkaku-ji, the Heian Jingu shrine, and the Fushimi-Momoyama-Jo (Fushimi-Momoyama Castle Park)--all of which were settled in the midst of beautifully groomed grounds of Japanese gardens. It was in the middle of winter, so the grass was brown and the deciduous trees had lost all their leaves, and there were small piles of snow here and there that were leftovers from a recent snowstorm. However, the scenery was awesome. We also took a side trip to Nara--where we toured the walkways and lanterns and Japanese gardens there. The main park we visited in Nara was the Shika-Koen (Deer Park), where in the midst of the lanterns and walkways, evidently tame deer would walk right up to you and would nose your pockets for treats (you had to buy the treats at the shrine kiosks at the front gate).

Torii Gate at the entrance to the Japanese Gardens within the Butchart Gardens in Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Colombia,

Deer Chaser -- Rocking bamboo clacker very common in Japanese gardens, particularly those with waterfalls and ponds.

Decorative Japanese Gardens -- The Zen of the Moment!

Painted bridge (traditional colors) over stream, Japanese Garden at Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC, Canada.

Japanese Garden by the Bay -- eBay, That Is!

Plain wood bridge over stream, Japanese Gardens, Butchart Gardens, Victoria BC, Canada

Japanese Gardens - There is a Zen to Their Beauty

The Peace and Tranquility of a Japanese Zen Garden -- Can Refresh Your Soul and Your Spirit

Contents at a Glance

Contents at a Glance

Japanese Gardens -- Large or Small -- Contain Essential Elements of Nature

Decorative Japanese Gardens -- The Zen of the Moment!

Japanese Garden by the Bay -- eBay, That Is!

Japanese Gardens Get a Little Action ...

See Japanese Gardens in movies (maybe not as the main character, but still, they're there!)

1

2

3

4

5

Create your own Japanese garden for your meditation place!

Read up on how to do that here.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

Gardens Galore -- and Different Approaches and Locations

Starter Materials for Your Own Japanese Garden!

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Well, put down your gardening tools for a moment to leave a note!

If you want to do a haiku or zen poem, that's okay, too!

by EditorDave

Explore related pages

You want to design your own Japanese garden?

This book will give you the info you need!

Beautiful photos and narration to inspire you and your garden!

Tips for creating your own Japanese garden!

Related Tags

Want our Newsletter?