My Encounter with Japanese Gardens (Part 3): Styles, Forms, and Final Reflection

 A kaiyu-shiki or strolling garden at Ritsurin Garden in Takamatsu, Kagawa

By the time we reach the question of styles, something important has already happened.
We are no longer looking at Japanese gardens as an abstract idea. We begin to recognise them as lived expressions—different responses to the same philosophy of nature, balance, and impermanence.

Each style carries its own interpretation of space, silence, and symbolism.

In this final part, I will explore the major styles of Japanese gardens, and how each one reflects a different way of seeing the natural world.

Types and Styles of Japanese Gardens

• Zen Rock Garden Style

• Tsukiyama Style

• Hiranaiwa Style

• Chaniwa Tea Garden Style

• Chisen Kaiyū Shiki (Strolling Pond Garden)

A. Zen Rock Garden Style: Precise and Meditative

This type of garden, mostly found in monasteries, represents Zen spiritualism and is also known as a sand and stone garden. The garden is confined within a defined boundary, isolating it from external visual distractions.

Usually, this type of garden does not include plants and trees, and water is substituted with carefully raked sand. The stones and rocks are artistically placed at symbolic locations and carry deeper spiritual interpretation.

One of the most famous examples of a Zen garden is Ryōan-ji in Kyoto. This is a rectangular garden with white walls on three sides, and on the fourth side is a verandah used as a place for meditation. It has carefully raked white sand with rocks arranged in a simple but artistic manner.

The sand is meant to disconnect the visitor’s mind from the outside world, allowing personal interpretation and meditation. There are 15 stones arranged in clusters of two, three, and five. Only fourteen stones are visible from any point on the verandah. It is said that when the viewer achieves enlightenment, the fifteenth stone becomes visible.

B. Tsukiyama Style: Natural Landscape Captured

The literal meaning of Tsukiyama refers to the creation of artificial hills. These gardens vary in size, and that determines how they are experienced.

Smaller gardens are viewed from a fixed point like a verandah, while larger ones are experienced by walking along a winding path.

Hills, waterfalls, streams, ponds, trees, flowering plants, bridges, and walkways are used to create a miniature reproduction of natural scenery, often inspired by famous landscapes in Japan or China.

Shrubs are used to block views of surrounding buildings, helping the garden feel more immersive and natural. The design often guides attention toward nearby mountains or borrowed scenery.

A well-known example is the Tenryū-ji Temple garden in Kyoto, which features a beautiful Tsukiyama layout.

C. Hiranaiwa Style: Simple, Open and Flat Gardens

This style of garden sits between Zen gardens and natural gardens. The most prominent visible characteristic is the raking of sea sand in circular patterns, symbolizing enlightenment and happiness.

Similar to Zen gardens, water is not physically used but is represented through raked sand. Other elements include white sand, evergreen plantings, moss, grass, and flowering plants.
Rocks are grouped into formations resembling tortoises or cranes, symbols of longevity.

D. Chaniwa Tea Garden Style: Hidden in Nature

The tea garden is closely intertwined with the Japanese Tea Ceremony. The designer of a Chaniwa garden aims to create a feeling of peace, solitude, and quiet reflection.
These gardens are usually attached to a ceremonial tea house and divided into an outer and inner section.

Essential elements include stones, stone lanterns, and traditional water basins, all arranged with symbolic interrelationships. Each element is placed with utmost care.

The outer garden serves as a waiting area for guests and may include a wooden bench with straw cushions, along with water and heating arrangements depending on the season.
Guests use the water to wash their hands and rinse their mouths as a symbolic act of purification before entering the tea house.

The inner garden surrounds the teahouse and is visible only from inside. The path leading to the teahouse is carefully designed, with trees arranged in clusters to gradually restrict and reveal views, creating a sense of transition.

E. Chisen Kaiyū Shiki Style: Strolling Pond Garden

This style evolved as the strolling pond garden, created for aristocrats and feudal lords as recreational spaces.

These gardens were sometimes designed as reflections of one’s birthplace, distant travels, or famous landscapes in China or Japan.

An earlier form, known as Chisen Senyū Shiki, was popular during the Heian period, where gardens were often viewed from boats on ponds rather than walked through.
The strolling garden includes ponds, waterfalls, streams, bridges, and islands connected by stone or wooden walkways. Pagodas and other architectural elements are placed throughout the garden.
These gardens have inspired poetry and art for centuries.

Example: Kenroku-en Garden, Kanazawa

The Kenroku-en Garden in Kanazawa is one of the most famous examples of this style.
Located outside Kanazawa Castle, it originally formed part of the outer garden and spans approximately 114,436.65 m². It contains around 8,750 trees and 183 species of plants.

Key highlights of this garden include:

• The oldest fountain in Japan, powered by natural water pressure
• Yūgao-tei, the oldest teahouse in the garden (built 1774)
• Shigure-tei, a rest house reconstructed in 2000
• Karasaki Pine, grown from seed brought from Lake Biwa
• Kotoji-tōrō, a two-legged stone lantern symbolizing a koto bridge
• Flying Geese Bridge (Gankō-bashi), made of 11 red stones
• Kaiseki Pagoda, said to have been donated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Conclusion

Designing a Japanese garden requires both artistic and spiritual understanding, as it is deeply rooted in philosophy and tradition. While this exploration may not make one an expert, it certainly brings clarity to what a Japanese garden represents.

Photos of Gardens:

 Garden of the Adachi Museum of Art near Masue

  

 Karesansui garden at Ryōan-ji in Kyoto

 Kōraku-en in Okayama

 Tea Garden (Kotoin Temple in Kyoto)

 Tenryū-ji Garden in Kyoto

Famous-kyoto-Tsukiyama garden