Landscape Art, Japanese

Landscape art in Japan was originally developed for garden design. The first recorded residential garden in Japan was the garden of Soga-no-Umako, built in 626 in Nara. This garden had a pond with islands designed not for practical use but for observation.

During the Nara period (710-794), because the imperial palace was the center of government in the city, the gardens were designed not only for leisurely observation but also for social events. Today in the ruins of the Heijo Palace, there are traces of a pond with a winding stream, which was once used for poetry parties.

Heian Period. In 794 the capital was moved to Heian (Kyoto), and aristocratic culture flourished during the Heian period (794-1192). Because of its location, the Heian capital had abundant water resources, and many residences of aristocrats had gardens with a pond and a stream. Among the gardens built in Kyoto during the early Heian period, Shinsen-en and Saga-in were famous as large imperial gardens with a beautiful pond.

The architecture of gardens was often depicted as being in the Chinese style in scroll paintings during this period. During the late Heian period, the palace style of building (shinden-zukuri) became standard for the residences of aristocrats. The interior space of the palace-style building was one room. The southern part of the space was used for ceremony and the northern part for living.

The palace style of building had a garden with a pond and stream occupying half of the southern side of its site. Because of the one-room structure, the garden of a palace-style building looked like a picture when it was seen from the inside by opening one of the lifting windows. In order to design the garden of a palace-style building, the first garden-making manual, Sakutei-ki (a note of garden making), was written in 1289.

No residential gardens built in the Heian period still exist. However, in Kyoto the garden in a Buddhist temple adjoining an aristocratic residence and the garden of a Buddhist monk's residence still remain. The best examples of such gardens are Uji Byodoin (Kyoto), Enjoji (Nara), Joruri-ji (Kyoto), and Hiraizumi Motsu-ji (Iwate). The main characteristics of garden design during this period are elegant layout and functionality. The garden was used for social activities such as aristocratic parties and boating devoted to poem composition and musical performance.

During the Kamakura period (1192-1338), Chinese culture, including Zen Buddhism, was introduced to Japan. Because Zen emphasizes walking meditation as well as sitting meditation, people began to use the garden for strolling as well as for boating. The preference for strolling arose because military society emphasized studying Zen philosophy and literature rather than composing poems and reading aristocratic literature.

Thus the garden began to be used for spiritual training as well as leisure. The garden of Saiho Temple (Moss Garden) in Kyoto, designed by Muso Soseki (1275-1351), is one of the best examples that shows the transitional stage between the garden of aristocratic society during the Heian period and the garden of military society during the Muromachi period (1338-1573).

The representative gardens during the Muromachi period are Rokuwanji Kinkaku and Jishoji Ginkaku (Kyoto). The Muromachi period was a period of civil war. Patrons of gardens had fewer financial resources because of successive conflicts, so gardens were smaller. As a result, the details of each element in the garden, such as the position or orientation of a stone and a tree, became more important. The best examples are stone gardens such as Daisenin and Ryoanji (Kyoto).

The long period of civil war ended with the Azuchi- Momoyama period (1573-1600). As the country became more settled politically and militarily, large castles with sumptuous, large gardens began to be constructed by feudal lords. In the garden of Nijö Castle (Kyoto), for example, many colorful, large, rare stones and rare trees were used to show the power of the lord. Other examples are Daigo-ji Sampo-in (Kyoto) and Onjö-ji Köjö-in (Shiga).

Tea gardens also began to be designed during this period. The tea garden, or roji, is not a garden to be observed in its own right, but rather an approach to the teahouse itself. It is a space meant to impart a pure feeling of serenity to guests arriving for the tea ceremony. The tea garden is divided by a small gate into two parts. In the outer garden is a bench where guests await the host's signal that all is ready, a toilet, and stone lanterns to provide light; in the inner garden is a basin for hand washing and mouth rinsing—required etiquette for tea ceremony guests.

These features were first elements of the tea garden and gradually became major elements of all Japanese gardens. Unlike the gardens of castles, tea gardens employ simple materials, probably chosen because of the essence of the tea ceremony. Its ideal, coming close to nature, is realized by sheltering oneself in a simple rustic landscape.

Edo Period. During the Edo period (1600-1868), strolling gardens became popular among imperial families and feudal lords. The strolling gardens during this time were gardens with a theme. For example, in Tokyo Koishikawa Koraku-en of the Mito clan reflects Confucian ideas, and Togoshi Garden of the Hosokawa clan and Toyama Garden of the Owari clan contained versions of the fifty-three scenic points on the Tokaidö Road.

The style of the strolling garden reflects all of the styles developed in the previous periods. The garden was designed for leisurely walking with less emphasis on the composition of rocks. During the Edo period, because of advances in printing techniques, many books on garden making were published, and garden making became popular not only among the ruling class but also among the common people.

During the Meiji period (1868-1912), as Western architecture and gardens were introduced to Japan, new designs were sought for gardens. High-ranking bureaucrats and new entrepreneurs created large gardens that showed Western influences. Public parks were planned in cities, and landscape art began to be applied not only to gardens but also to the public spaces.

The Taisho period (1912-1926) and Showa period (19261989) were the era of small residential gardens. During the Showa period there were two outstanding tendencies in garden design: gardens with abstract design, advocated by garden designer Shigemori Mirei, and gardens with various trees, advocated by garden designer Ogata Kenzo. After World War II, especially during the Heisei period (1989-present), landscape design began to be seen as a way to address environmental and ecological problems.