To visit a garden in Japan is to take a step away from reality for a moment and step back in time. Many of these gardens are an oasis in the center of a very vibrant and bustling country. Once you step foot within their walls it’s really hard to imagine all of that action going on outside.

The earliest known gardens in Japan date back to the Asuka period (593-710AD) and were created in what is now know as Nara prefecture. The three main elements of the Japanese garden are the use of rocks, trees and water. Ancient Japanese believed that a place surrounded by rocks was inhabited by gods and named it amatsu iwasaka (heavenly barrier) or amatsu iwakura (heavenly seat). A dense cluster of trees is known as himorogi (divine hedge) and moats and streams were thought to enclose sacred ground and were referred to mizuguchi (water fences). Japan-Guide lists a few of the gardens in Japan on their site and describes three different categories of gardens as follows:

Tsukiyama Gardens - Ponds, streams, hills, stones, trees, flowers, bridges and paths are used to create a miniature reproduction of natural scenery which is often a famous landscape in China or Japan. The name Tsukiyama refers to the creation of artificial hills.

Karesansui Gardens - Karesansui gardens reproduce natural landscapes in a more abstract way by using stones, gravel, sand and sometimes a few patches of moss for representing mountains, islands, boats, seas and rivers. Karesansui gardens are strongly influenced by Zen Buddhism and used for meditation.

Chaniwa Gardens - Chaniwa gardens are built for the tea ceremony. They contain a tea house where the actual ceremony is held and are designed in aesthetic simplicity according to the concepts of sado (tea ceremony). Chaniwa gardens typically feature stepping stones that lead towards the tea house, stone lanterns and a stone basin (tsukubai), where guests purify themselves before participating in the ceremony.

Tsukiyama and Karesansuin gardens were prevalent until the introduction of the tea ceremony and Chaniwa gardens in 1522AD. Large scale spaces and extensive laws did not start appearing until the Meiji period (1868-1912) with the influence of the west starting to show itself in the design. Web-Japan has created a fact sheet on Japanese gardens that contains a lot of historical information and elaborates on the different types of gardens listed above.

I have a special affinity for the Meiji Jingu iris garden (pictured above). This garden is located in the heart of Tokyo and is on the grounds of a Shinto shrine of the same name. The flowers seem to meander for miles and are at their peak in June of each year. The sight impressed me so that I made an annual trek there and am eager to visit back again.

Almost every prefecture or city in Japan has its own garden. JGarden has a search engine that will help you find a garden close to where you live, in Japan, or elsewhere in the world. I had the pleasure of visiting the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Jose, California on a few occasions. It is gorgeous and made me think I was back in Japan – if only for a short time.