Japanese gardens

[curupira]

I prefer them to manga, anime or Nintendo games. Do you agree?

These gardens are very pleasant to behold as one stands there looking at the many things in them, for in this matter they go to much trouble and seek trees, plants, and rare stones in remote parts for the garden. There are craftsmen who make their living by constructing and arranging such gardens in keeping with their rules for laying out the different kinds. They somethimes completely imitate nature and this is their custom. Much could be said about these gardens, for they are one of the most excellent things in Japan.

João Rodrigues report (early XVII century)

Ritsurin garden in the island Shikoku:

Ritsurin Garden (栗林公園 Ritsurin Kōen?, lit. chestnut grove garden) is one of the most famous and most beautiful historical gardens in Japan.

The buildings in the Garden date back to the early 17th century. In 1625, the feudal lord of Sanuki, Ikoma Takatoshi (生駒高俊?), began construction of Ritsurin, specifically the building of a garden around the South Pond using the beautiful greenery of Mt. Shiun as a backdrop. Beginning in 1642, Matsudaira Yorishige (松平頼重?) took over the area and continued its construction. The work was completed by the Fifth Lord Yoritaka in 1745 after 100 years of improvements and extensions made by the successive lords.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritsurin_Garden

[Roy]

Japanese Garden (Ogród Japoński) in Wrocław (Park Szczytynicki)

[curupira]

Kōraku-en garden:

Kōraku-en (後楽園 Kōrakuen?), is a Japanese garden located in Okayama, Okayama Prefecture. It is one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan, along with Kenroku-en and Kairaku-en. Korakuen was built in 1700 by Ikeda Tsunamasa, lord of Okayama. The garden reached its modern form in 1863.

In 1687, the daimyo Ikeda Tsunamasa ordered Tsuda Nagatada to begin construction of the Korakuen. It was completed in 1700 and has retained its original appearance to the present day, except for a few changes by various daimyo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%8Draku-en

[Kazimiera]

[curupira]

Kairaku-en in Mito.

Kairaku-en (偕楽園?) (English: "A park to be enjoyed together") is a Japanese garden located in Mito, Ibaraki, Japan. Along with Kenroku-en and Koraku-en, it is considered one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan. Kairakuen was built relatively recently in the year 1841 by the local lord Tokugawa Nariaki.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kairaku-en

[Mason8]

[arcticwolf]

Thank you. Awesome thread!

Absolutely beautiful. Grace, peace and reflection. Time seems to stand still if just for a sec. I'm huge fan of Japanese gardens, one of a few man made things that actually enhances the natural beauty of nature.

Best place to meditate, contemplate or ponder!

The mind moves to a different level of awareness just being there.

[curupira]

^ Agreed, I couldn't have said it better.

[curupira]

Gardens from the Katsura Imperial Villa (桂離宮 Katsura Rikyū?):

The Katsura Imperial Villa (桂離宮 Katsura Rikyū?), or Katsura Detached Palace, is a villa with associated gardens and outbuildings in the western suburbs of Kyoto, Japan (in Nishikyō-ku, separate from the Kyoto Imperial Palace). It is one of Japan's most important large-scale cultural treasures.

Its gardens are a masterpiece of Japanese gardening, and the buildings are even more important, one of the greatest achievements of Japanese architecture. The palace includes a shoin ("drawing room"), tea houses, and a strolling garden. It provides an invaluable window into the villas of princes of the Edo period.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katsura_Imperial_Villa

[curupira]

Japanese garden in Saihō-ji, Kyoto:

Popularly known as Kokedera (Moss Temple) because of the prevailing ground cover of the garden, Saiho-ji is one of the earliest extant gardens to be associated with Zen thought. It is a large pond garden that was once part of a Jodo temple, in which context it would have evoked the Western Paradise of Amida. When the temple was converted to Zen Buddhism by Muso Soseki in 1339, the garden was probably altered to some degree, and Muso is said to have added the rock formations of the upper level. The garden one visits today--heavily wooded and missing the various pavilions that Muso erected on the site--is certainly different from that of the fourteenth century, but it still evokes both the Pure Land of its original Jodo dedication and the reverance for nature shared by Shinto and Zen.

http://learn.bowdoin.edu/japanesegar.../saiho-ji.html

Saihō-ji (西芳寺?) is a Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple located in Matsuo, Nishikyō Ward, Kyoto, Japan. The temple, which is famed for its moss garden, is commonly referred to as "Koke-dera" (苔寺?), meaning "moss temple", while the formal name is "Kōinzan Saihō-ji" (洪隠山西芳寺?). The temple, primarily constructed to honor Amitabha, was first founded by Gyōki and was later restored by Musō Soseki. In 1994, Saihō-ji was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as part of the "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saih%C5%8D-ji_(Kyoto)