Glossary

A

Amanohashidate - A long, narrow, pine-covered sand bar in Miyazu Bay, one of the three most revered landscapes in Japan. Often evoked in landscape design, most notably in the garden of the Katusura Detached Imperial Villa in Kyoto.

Ariso (also araiso) - Literally "rocky shore," a group of rocks set at a water's edge and designed to evoke a rugged seashore.

B

Bon-seki - The art of placing pebbles on a sand-covered tray, the dry equivalent of bonsai. Some analysts relate the famous garden at Ryoan-ji to this practice.

C

Chisen - Pond (see also "ike" and "enchi").

Chisen kaiyu teien - Literally "pond spring stroll garden," a description of those gardens of the Muromachi Period and later in which one is intended to move through or around the garden on foot.

Chisen shuyu teien - Literally "pond spring boating garden," describing estate gardens of the Heian aristocracy intended for boating parties and pond-based festivities.

D

Dejima - Peninsula.

E

Enchi - Pond (see also "ike" and "chisen"). Can also be a synonym for garden.

F

Feng shui - The Chinese tradition of geomancy, or auspicious orientation of cities, buildings, interiors, and gardens, influential in Japanese garden design.

H

Hojo - The residence of the abbot of a Japanese Buddhist monastery, often the site of the most famous temple gardens.

I

Ike - Pond. An ikeniwa is a pond garden (see also enchi and chisen).

Ishi - Rock or stone. Includes terms like ishigumi (stone arrangement), ishidoro (stone lantern), ishiniwa (stone garden), ishihama (pebble beach).

Ishidateso - Priests who designed gardens during the Heian and Kamakura periods. Literally "a priest who raises stones."

Ishidoro - Stone lantern.

Isles of the Blest - Mythical islands off East Asia, home of immortals. Gardens sometimes symbolically recreate them.

Iwajima - Stone island. Many garden islands consist of stone arrangements.

Iwakura - Sacred stones associated with Shinto spirits (kami), often marked with a straw rope (shimenawa).

J

Jodo - Pure Land. A reference to Amida Buddhism's paradise. Some gardens, like Byodo-in, Joruri-ji, and Saiho-ji evoke this paradise.

K

Kaiyushiki teien - Stroll garden designed for walking through or around.

Kamejima - Turtle Island. Symbol of longevity. Often represented with rock formations.

Kami-ike - A pond sacred to Shinto, important in Japanese garden development.

Kanshoniwa - Contemplation garden.

Karenagare - Dry stream of gravel or stone simulating water.

Karesansui - "Dry mountain water" garden, using rocks and gravel to represent water.

Karetaki - Dry cascade (see also ryumon-no-taki).

Karikomi - Clipped shrubs.

Kawaramono - "River-bed people," outcasts who became expert stone placers in gardens.

Kobori Enshu - Famous garden designer of the late 1500s and early 1600s. Credited with gardens like Konchi-in.

Kokeniwa - Moss garden. Famous example: Saiho-ji (Kokedera).

Kusen hakkai ishi - "Nine mountains and eight oceans" stones, symbolic cosmology from Hindu-Buddhist belief.

Kyokusui - Meandering stream, setting for poetry banquets in Nara period gardens.

M

Mitate - "A new point of view," often a metaphor or surprising visual element.

Mt. Horai (Horaizan) - Mythical home of Daoist immortals, represented by vertical rock formations.

Mt. Meru (Sumeru/Shumisen) - Axis of the universe in Hindu/Buddhist cosmology, symbolized by rock formations in gardens.

N

Nagare - Stream.

Nakajima - Inner island.

Night mooring stones - A line of small stones thought to evoke ships moored in a harbor.

Niwa - Literally "pure place." The Japanese term for garden.

R

Ryumon-no-taki - "Dragon Gate Waterfall," symbolizing transformation and enlightenment through struggle, inspired by Chinese legend.

S

Sabi - Aesthetic concept referring to beauty in aging, wear, and imperfection.

Sansui - Literally "mountain water," referring to landscapes.

Sanzonbutsu - Buddhist triad; a stone grouping representing a central Buddha flanked by bodhisattvas.

Satsuki - A flowering shrub (Rhododendron lateritium) used in gardens.

Senseki - "Water and stones," a synonym for garden.

Sensui - Any garden body of water; sometimes a synonym for garden.

Shakkei - "Borrowed scenery" from outside a garden that enhances its visual space.

Shima - Island; also an old synonym for garden.

Shimenawa - Straw rope marking sacred Shinto spaces.

Shinden - The main hall in Heian estates; also a style of architecture.

Shoji - Sliding paper doors common in Japanese architecture.

Shumisen - See Mt. Meru; central cosmic mountain in Buddhist cosmology.

Sono - Another word for garden, sometimes combined with niwa as niwa-sono.

Sori bashi - Arched bridge; when built of stone, it's a sori ishibashi.

Suhana - Pebble beach. Found at Sento Gosho and Katsura.

T

Tamamono - Shaped pruning of shrubs.

Teien - Chinese reading of characters for "garden" (niwa, sono).

Tsubu niwa - Courtyard garden.

Tsukiyama - Man-made hill.

Tsurujima and tsuru ishi - Crane island and crane stone, symbolizing longevity. Often paired with turtle islands.

W

Wabi - Aesthetic term favoring austerity, simplicity, and the beauty of imperfection.

Y

Yama - Mountain. Also used historically as a synonym for garden.

Yuniwa - See niwa.