Exploring the Temple Gardens of Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan

Japanese gardens are not beautiful by accident. Every detail is carefully considered, every plant and rock precisely placed. And the result is often stunning.

It was in Kyoto that I really came to appreciate the nuances of Japanese garden design. Gardens in Japan fall into two distinct categories: those that are to be experienced by walking around them, and those that are simply viewed from a building or veranda.

The former are usually called ‘strolling gardens’, Kaiyu-shiki teien. They incorporate a variety of elements, almost always including water in the shape of a ‘pond and island garden’. This is the oldest type of garden found in Japan. The islands in the pond are considered sacred spaces, representing heaven; they often have bridges linking them to the banks of the pond.

Gardens intended to be viewed from a veranda include ‘dry landscape gardens’, Karesansui. Sand or gravel is raked in a variety of ways to cover the ground, representing the ocean; Karesansui means ‘dry mountain water’. These gardens are particularly associated with Zen temples.

Another form of garden designed to be looked at rather than entered is the courtyard garden, Tsubo-niwa. These are usually very small, tucked between or even within buildings. You can see some examples of these in my post about the merchant houses of Takayama. Here I want to focus on the gardens we visited in Kyoto which illustrate many of the above styles. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).