Term | Definition |
---|
a |
agesudo | a hanging shiorido raised into an open position and secured with a pole. |
ai-no-gaki | a hedge or bamboo fence that serves as a barrier on either side of a 'middle gate'. |
aoyama | vegetated hills. |
ara-iso | placement of several sharp, pointed stones at intervals on the shore of a water body; it is a symbolic representation of a coastline and is usually located on the north end of a water body or sand representing a water body. |
arare-kuzushi | disordered layout of paving stones with uneven borders. |
aware | an emotional response to the beauty of ephemeral phenomena; the sadness that arises from realization of the temporary nature of existence. |
azumaya | an arbor or covered seating area, often on the side of a path in a stroll or tea garden. |
b |
bonseki | a miniature landscape built on a tray (bon); is similar to bonsai but uses stones to compose an entire scene. |
buke-yashiki | the warrior residence style of architecture that grew out of the earlier aristrocratic shinden style. |
c |
chashitsu | tea room or house. |
chatei (chaen) | garden through which the guests walk to reach the tea house; also known as roji. |
chiri | the depth of the mortar on a meji joint in a nobedan stone path. |
chiri-ana | a small pit used to dispose of garden waste in a tea garden. |
chisen shûyû teien | the pond, boating garden of the Heian period (794-1185). |
chisenkaiyu | a stroll garden with view and perspective changing as one moves along the path. |
chi-wari | lit. 'dividing the ground'; an early term for garden design. |
chôjô | the layering of experience and views in the garden space. |
chôzubachi | stone hand-washing basin. |
d |
dairi | residential quarters within the Imperial palace. |
datsuzoku | a Buddhist term; to leave the materiality of the earthly world behind. |
dôbôshû | arbiters of taste to medieval military lords (daimyo); often were priests in the Buddhist Ji sect. |
domin | peasants in the Heian period who constructed earthworks, including the digging and earth removal necessary for garden construction. |
dosen | the layout of the pathway between the gate and the front entrance of a building. |
e |
engawa | the narrow, enclosed space in a traditional Japanese building construction that serves as a transition between the a room and the outside environment. The engawa is often separated from the room by shoji and from the garden or other outside landscape by a sliding glass or wood door. Many gardens are designed to be viewed from the engawa, where one can gain a clear, unobstructed view of the garden. |
f |
fude-gaki | lit. 'sleeve fence'; fences attached to the sides of buildings that resemble the sleeve of a kimono. |
fukan-bi | bird's eye view; in design terms, it refers to an emphasis on the plan view. |
funsui | fountain(s); they did not become an important feature in the gardens of Japan until after the Meiji Restoration (1868); the earliest fountain in Japan was constructed at Kenrokuen in Kanazawa in the late Edo period (1603-1868). |
fuzei | tasteful, elegant, refined, artistic, aesthetic. |
g |
giboshi | distinctive metal finials seen on key bridges in Japan. |
ginshanada | lit. 'silver sand, open sea'; surface of white sand raked in patterns of waves. |
go-gyo | the five elemental phases of Chinese natural philosophy: earth, wood, fire, metal and water. |
gokusui(gyokusui) | Also kyokusui. a curved stone-lined stream that winds through a garden. A term associated with early (8th century) Nara gardens. While it was influenced by continental antecedents, it is different from granite equivalents in Korean and China. Large banquets were often held around these gardens by the aristocratic elite. While eating and drinking, they would take turns composing tanka poetry, usually in a short time period, such as the time it takes for a cup of wine to float across the pond and reach them. |
gorinto | lit. 'five-circle tower'; gravestones composed of a stack of five stone cylinders or spheres representing earth, water, fire, wind and heaven. |
go-shintai | lit. 'abode of a deity'; may be an unusual rock, tree, mountain or waterfall. |
gosho | an Imperial Palace. |
gôsô | an Edo period term for grandeur. |
gyoen | an imperial garden. |
h |
hai-seki | a large, wide, flat stone that a garden visitor can stand on while viewing the garden. If the garden has a pond, the hai-seki is usually positioned on the edge of the pond, protruding somwhat into the pond. Because an overgrown or built-up edge around the haiseki will obscure the view of the water and landscape beyond, a haiseki is usually combined with a kusa-dome or tsuchi-dome edge. |
hako-zukuri | topiary technique of clipping trees into a box shape. |
hanchi | pond at the entrance of some Zen temples; represents the threshold between the outside world of the profane and the inside realm of the sacred. |
hara | plains. |
hashi | bridge(s). |
hashi-basami-ishi | the foundation stones or abutments of a bridge. |
hatsuhana | lit. 'first flowers'; refers to tufts of snow on tree branches in late winter. |
hikata | ebb-tide beach. |
hira-niwa | a flat garden. |
hojo | abbot's quarters; surrounded by gardens on all sides. |
hondo | main hall within a temple complex. |
Hôrai | symbolic version of the 'Isles of the Blessed' of Taoist mythology, according to which there are five islands far east of the Chinese coast populated by immortals living in perfect harmony; Hôrai images are often embedded in gardens to attract the immortal. |
i |
ike | pond or lake. |
ikedori | to draw the outer landscape into the garden by 'capturing it alive'; this term for "borrowed landscape" is much older than the more recent term, shakkei |
ikekomi | a lantern with no pedestal; often appears to simply sit on the ground. |
iki | chic; a term used from the Edo period. |
ikigaki | lit. 'living fence'; a hedge. |
ishi | stone or rock. |
ishi o tatsu | lit. 'to set a stone upright'; garden building. |
ishi-bashi | a stone bridge. |
ishi-datami | lit. 'stone tatami'; a paving technique in which flagstones are placed in one long, rectangular strip. |
ishidoro, ishi-doro | a stone lantern. Stone lanterns date back to the Asuka period, when they appeard in Japan to light the front of Buddhist temples. Their decorative use in gardens began with the rise of the tea ceremony and the need to illuminate the roji path to the tea house. There is an enormous variety of stone lanterns; some of them include:
niwa-doro: A small garden lantern that began to appear in the early Edo period.
yama-doro: A lantern assembled from natural stones.
bake-doro: Another, less-used term for yama-doro.
Oribe-doro: a stone lantern without a stone base at the bottom. The square shaft is sunk directly into the ground. A second distinguishing feature is the circular feature at the top of the shaft. Third, Oribe lanterns usually have thick roofs that have the form of a thatched roof. This is one of the oldest styles of lantern and dates back to the Momoyama period, though the two oldest specimens data from the early Edo (c. 1615).
Yunoki-doro: This widely imitated form dates is at least as old as the early Heian period. The shaft of the lantern has rings carved at the bottom, middle and top. The base and area under the lighting area are carved in a lotus pattern. The roof looks like an umbrella with a droplet of stone at the top. The oldest example is on the grounds of the Kasuga Taisha Shrine. The yunoki term is japanese name for the citron tree that used to hang over this lantern at Kasuga. This style of lantern was popularized in tea gardens and became common after the Edo Period.
yukimi-doro: The yukimi or 'snow-viewing' lantern also appeared first in the early Edo period. The lantern has no shaft and instead rests on three or four legs that arch outward from the base. It usually sits relatively low to the ground, and combined with the multiple legs, it lends a sense of stability to a landscape. The kasa or 'hat' is also much broader than in other styles and the term 'snow-viewing' refers to the kasa's resemblance to a bamboo or rush hat with an accumulation of snow on the top. The main part of the lantern is usually either six-sided (with three legs) or eight-sided (with four legs).
oki-doro: A 'movable' lantern. These are lanterns small enough to be placed on top of a stone. They usually don't have a shaft or legs and are appropriate for a small space. The come in many forms including bunshoan-gata (six-sided with a window opening shaped like a loose lotus petal); misaki-gata (a circular form resting on a natural rock in a small pond at Katsura detached palace); sanko-gata (a four-sided form with several different shapes in the windows); temari-gata ; and sunshoan-gata.
tachi-doro: A 'standing lantern' built to imitate temple lanterns
ikekomi-doro: 'Planted lanterns' include Oribe-doro and other lanterns with the shaft sunk directly into the ground.
ashitsuki-doro: 'Legged lanterns' include yukimi-doro and other forms with legs.
tô-doro: A 'stupa lantern' are in the shape of a stupa or pagoda with several tiers of kasa.
yose-doro: 'Aggregate lanterns' are assembled from stone parts of other objects.
kaizo-doro: 'Transformed lanterns' are made by modifying or re-forming another stone object into a lantern
rengeji-gata: A lantern patterned after the one at Rengeji Temple. This form is quite decorated with lotus leaves on the base and an eight-sided kasa that has the tips turned up.
henkei-doro: Lanterns whose form doesn't fit into a category. |
ishigumi(niwaishi | an arrangement of stones. diagrams; construction; bibliography. |
ishitateso | monks of the esoteric Shingon sect acting as semi-professional gardeners. |
ishi-tate-sô | garden-making Buddhist priests; originally Shingon sect priests from Ninnaji in the Heian period but later used to refer to all such priests. |
iso | shore, coast. |
ito-ochi | lit. 'thread fall'; a waterfall cascade that resembles a thread. |
iwa | boulder. |
iwakura (iwasaku) | lit. 'rock seat' or 'rock boundary'; rocks venerated as divine. |
iwasaka | a type of iwakura where a pair of boulders symbolizes fertility. |
izumidono | a well-spring arbor built in Heian gardens attached to shinden residences. |
j |
jiban-men | the flat, foreground area that is usually around a house or other structure and serves as transition zone between the structure and the garden. Ideally, this plane would be at the same level as the main floor of the building, but drainage and other pragmatic concerns usually make this impossible. The relationship of the precise height of a seated person on this main floor is an important consideration in the development of a garden design. |
jigote | a hand tool that resembles a trowel and is used for planting moss, ground cover, shrubs and other small plants. |
jikkyo | lit. 'ten boundaries'; ten landmarks in the area around a Buddhist temple that are given Buddhist names, thereby drawing them into the extended grounds of the temple. |
jôdo-teien | a Pure Land garden; a Heian garden in which the Amida Buddha's Pure Land is represented; also called a 'paradise garden'; usually consists of an island in a pond connected to shore by a bridge (the bridge implies the possibility of salvation). |
k |
kaiyû-shiki-teien | a stroll garden; a style developed from the Edo period, often on the large estates of provincial daimyô; walking through the garden paths results in the unfolding of a sequence of shifting scenes. |
kake | fences. diagrams; construction; bibliography. |
kakehi | the bamboo pipe that usually extends over a tsukubai water basin. |
kameshima | islands in the shape of a turtle. |
kanshô niwa | contemplation garden; a garden intended to be viewed from an attached building rather than entered physically. |
karei | an Edo term meaning magnificent or gorgeous. |
kare-ike | a dry pond. diagrams. |
kare-nagare | a dry stream. |
karesansui | dry landscape garden; gravel and stones are used to represent water. In its earliest manifestation karesansui simply referred to the placement of stones where there was neither pond nor nosuji. |
kare-sawa | a dry marsh. |
karetaki | rocks and sand arranged to resemble a waterfall. diagrams; construction; bibliography. |
kare-taki | a dry waterfall. |
karikomi | plant sculpting on a relatively small scale. |
kari-niwa | hunting range. |
kawa | river or stream. |
kawaramono | lit. 'riverbank workers'; originally the burakumin outcastes of society, they gradually rose to the status of professional garden architects during the Muromachi (1393-1568) era. |
kaya-buki | a 'middle gate' with a thatched roof. |
kazan | A variety of karesansui stonework (see also shukkei) that focuses on the representation of a panorama of mountains or mountain ranges. It probably develops from the Sui (6th century) China but was not introduced to Japan until the Kamakura period. |
kazari-musubi | decorative knots tied at the top of a bamboo fence with the binding rope. |
keiseki | a meal served before tea in the tea ceremony. |
kekkai | a sacred space. |
kimon | the northeast quarter in geomancy; the direction from which evil (bad ki) is likely to come. |
koshikake-machiai | a bench where one waits for the tea ceremony; usually covered a roof. |
kusa-dome | This is a grass edge to a pond that drops off like a cliff, rather than sloping down to the water. The kusa-dome is usually best for the shoreline closest to the main architectural structure and is not usually appropriate for the entire pond edge. It is often used in conjunction with a hai-seki. Contrast with the tsuchidome which is a grass-covered edge. |
kutsunugi-ishi | lit. 'the shoe-removal stone'; the solitary step mediating the garden level with that of the building; it is a key transition point to which a great deal of thought is given. |
kyaku-ishi | stones upon which tea ceremony guests rest their feet while waiting in a machiai to be shown to the tea house chashitsu; usually arranged so that most prominent guest uses the largest stone. |
kyokusui | Also gyokusui. a curved stone-lined stream that winds through a garden. A term associated with early (8th century) Nara gardens. While it was influenced by continental antecedents, it is different from granite equivalents in Korean and China. Large banquets were often held around these gardens by the aristocratic elite. While eating and drinking, they would take turns composing tanka poetry, usually in a short time period, such as the time it takes for a cup of wine to float across the pond and reach them. |
l |
m |
ma | a sense of place; often involving considerations of both a time and space; space/time. |
machiya | urban townhouse; usually made of wood. |
mae-ishi | a large, broad stone placed just before the chozubachi. |
masago | sand composed of decomposed granite. |
megakushi | a blind or scrim; may refer to a screening tree or hedge, but can also be a light weight structure constructed on top of a fence or wall that further screens the garden from outside view. |
meisho | famous views or places. |
meji | the mortar joins between the stones on a nobedan. See also chiri |
michiyuki | progression through space and/or time; movement through the layers of a garden. |
mikiri | the trimming of bushes to frame a view. |
mine | mountain peak. |
mitate | reuse of old objects in a new way (example: millstones becoming stepping stones across a pond); seeing anew; rediscover. Also mitate-mono. This word was originally associated with teamasters who took discarded objects that had lost their value and reused them in novel contexts, transforming their meaning. |
miyabi | Heian term meaning 'elegant' or 'refined'. |
mizu-ya | lit. 'water room'; the preparation room adjoining the tea room in a tea house |
mon | gates diagrams; construction; bibliography. |
mono-no-aware | a sensitivity to the evanescense of life. |
mudô | a Buddhist term; non-movement; the self that is not moved because it is moved in itself; similar to seijaku. |
muge | a Buddhist term; free of the earthly; abstract, containing all form and thus free of everything.. |
muhô | a Buddhist term; without rules; to simplify form by freeing oneself from perfected form. |
mui | a Buddhist term; without rank or position. |
mujô | a Buddhist term; transience; evanescense. |
musatsu | a Buddhist term; complex simplicity, such as that of the roof of a teahouse. |
mushin | a Buddhist term; something as it is; unfeigned and unthinking. |
mutei | a Buddhist term; something unfathomable that cannot be expressed through form. |
n |
naka-jima | the island in the middle of a pond garden. |
naka-kuguri | the middle gate separating the inner and outer roji. |
nakaniwa | an inner or courtyard garden; usually a garden entirely contained within the walls of a building; is thought to be an outgrowth of the tea garden. |
nantei | lit. 'south garden'; an sand courtyard used for events; an open, flat area south of a shinden residence. |
nijiri-guchi | the tiny doorway in a tea house through which the guest enters after walking along through the roji tea garden |
niju-roji | a tea garden with both inner and outer roji. |
niwa-saki | a garden. |
niwa-shi | term for professional garden artists after the Meiji period. |
no | hillside fields. |
nobedan | flagstone paving on a path; usually constructed of natural cobbles or flat granite flagstones set into the ground on top of gravel, pounded earth, or more recently, concrete. |
nokiuchi | the area under the eaves of a building; this space is very important in tieing the garden space to that of the building. |
nomine | peak of a low mountain or hill. |
nosuji | artificial, low mound with a gentle slope. |
noyama | hills and streams. |
numa | also numaike; marsh. |
nuno-ochi | waterfall cascade that resembles a cloth veil. |
o |
o-karikomi | large-scale topiary; examples at Diachiji and Raikyuji. |
osuji | shoulder or trailing ridge of a mountain. |
p |
q |
r |
reihaiseki | lit. 'worshipping stone'; a garden stone used for ritual activities. |
ri-gyo-seki | lit. 'carp stone'; part of a waterfall arrangement. |
rittai-bi | the sculptural beauty of arrangements of rocks and masses of topiary in a garden. |
roji | lit. 'dewy path'; a more poetic name for the tea garden; sometimes separated into soto-roji , the outer tea garden, and uchiroji, the inner tea garden. |
ryû-mon-baku | lit. 'dragon gate waterfall'; a stone arrangement appearing as a waterfall with a 'carp stone' at the base representing a carp jumping up the falls. |
s |
sabi | elegant simplicity; the patina of wear and weathering |
sakiyama | escarpment. |
sakui | the central theme or motif; a creative impulse |
samon | the ripples and other patterns formed in the white sand shikisuna of a karesansui garden and creating using a special rake. |
sa-niwa | probably a Shinto precursor to the garden; the purified space in which prayers are made and messages received from divine spirits. |
sansui | lit. 'mountain and water'; landscape; one of the most important metaphysical concepts underlying garden art and painting. |
sanzon-ishi-gumi | a triangular arrangement of three stones representing the Buddhist trinity. |
sao-ishi | a lantern's stone stem inserted directly into the ground. |
sawa-watari ishi | a type of stepping stone for crossing water. |
seijaku | a Buddhist term; stillness, but stillness that derives from movement as in a Noh drama. |
sekitei | a stone garden. |
sentei | lit. 'to prune'; garden; term used in provinces; the same term but with different kanji refers to an arbor over a garden pond. |
shahei-gaki | a screening fence |
shakkei | lit. 'borrowed landscape'; to draw the outer landscape into the garden by 'capturing it alive'; a word imported from China, it was probably applied to the technique in the Meiji (1868-1912)and Taisho (1912-1926) eras when Japanese gardening techniques were being systematized; ikedori is the far older term. |
shibumi | a term used from the Edo period to describe quiet or somber things. |
shiki | the four seasons. |
shiki-e | paintings that symbolize the four seasons. |
shiki-ishi | paving stones. |
shikiri-gake | boundary fences. |
shikisuna | beds of coarse sand or gravel; is often raked into samon patterns. |
shima | island(s). |
shime-nawa | the ropes (twisted bundles of rice straw) delineating a sacred area or sanctifying a holy object within a Shinto shrine. |
shinchi | lit. 'pond of the gods'. |
shinden-zukuri | aristocratic architectural style dating from the Heian period. |
shin-gyo-so | formal (shin), semi-formal (gyo), informal (so); a concept originally applied to calligraphy, later to other arts including tea ceremony and garden design; see article by Marc Treib. |
shinrin | a sacred forest. |
shinsento | an unearthly mountain island in a mythical sea. |
shinzan | deep mountains. |
shiorido | fences constructed from a bamboo frame around which strips of bamboo are stretched, forming a rhombus shape. |
shiorido | a garden gate made from branches and twigs. |
shira-kawa-suna | white sand used in karesansui gardens. |
shishi-odoshi | lit. 'deer chaser'; a bamboo device originally used to keep animals away from cultivated areas, but now used to provide acoustic and visual interest in gardens; a length of bamboo is positioned like a lever on a fulcrum below a water source; when it fills with water, the balance of weight shifts and the lever tips in the opposite direction, pouring the water on the ground and making a loud 'thonk' sound when the bamboo returns to its original position. |
shoin-zukuri | architectural style of the Kamakura (1185-1392) and Muromachi (1393-1568) eras characterized by low writing desk and the raised surface upon which it rests. |
shokusai | plantings. |
shukkei | lit 'concentrated view' - a variety of karesansui stonework (see also kazan) in which an entire scenery is reduced to a human scale. Rocks and sand are used to depict mountains, valleys, rivers, seas and lakes. It also includes dry waterfalls (karataki). |
Shumisen | the immovable mountain at the center of Buddhist cosmology; represented in gardens by an upright stone; one of the earliest known features in the gardens of Japan. |
shuronawa | black-dyed rope used in bamboo fence construction. |
sôan | lit. 'grass hut'; rustic tea arbour. |
sode-gaki | lit. 'sleeve fence'; a small fence extending out from a building limiting the first floor view of a garden. |
sono | an early term for garden; implies an agricultural origin. |
sôsaku-mono | lit. 'designed object'; items such as lanterns specifically made for placement in a garden. |
soto-mon | outer gate of a tea garden. |
soto-roji | the outer garden; usually wider and airier than the uchiroji. |
sudare | a reed or bamboo screen. |
suhama | slightly curved spit of sandy beach. |
suihen | freshwater shore. |
suikinkutsu | an underground echo chamber constructed beneath a chozubachi or tsukubai to amplify and reflect the sound of water back to the person washing their hands at the basin. diagrams; construction; bibliography. |
sukashi-gaki | open, latticed fence. |
sukiya | architectual style of the Momoyama era (1569-1603) characterized by rustic simplicity and extreme elegance; drew on motifs and materials from vernacular architecture but largely based on the tea house. |
suna | sand. |
susaki | sandbar or pebble-strewn spit. |
t |
tachû | a garden or building that is a hybrid of many styles. |
taju-roji | a tea garden with multiple roji. |
takeho-gaki | a fence constructed from bamboo branches. |
taki | waterfall. |
tama-mono | semi-spherical shrubs that are often arranged into compositions with stone and carefully pruned trees. |
tani | valley. |
tanzan | foothills. |
tenkei-butsu | garden ornaments; lanterns, bridges, wash basins. |
teppô-gaki | lit. 'rifle fence'; bamboo fence in which unsplit bamboo is tied to a wooden frame in vertical ranks. |
tesshoku-shi | a stone in a tea garden chozubachi arrangement upon which a lantern is placed while the visitor washes their hands |
tobi-ishi | stepping stones; often arranged in groups of five or seven and spaced to subtly influence the pace of one's physical steps through the space. |
tôboku | a fallen or blown over tree. |
tome | the stillness of a water surface, raked sand, flat rocks, etc. |
tome-ishi | stone tied with black rope which serve as signs that block a path. |
toro | a stone lantern; see ishi-doro. |
tsubo-niwa | tiny, enclosed garden found in townhouses from the Edo period; a tsubo is an old unit of measurement approximately equal to 3 sqaure meters. |
tsuchi-dome | This is a soil edge to the pond that drops off like a cliff, rather than sloping down to the water. The tsuchi-dome is usually best for the shoreline closest to the main architectural structure and is not usually appropriate for the entire pond edge. It is often used in conjunction with a hai-seki. Contrast with the kusadome which is a grass-covered edge. |
tsuiji-bei | a rammed-earth wall. |
tsuki-yama | an artificial 'mountain'; created with soil and/or rocks. |
tsukubai | lit. 'place where one has to bend down'; stone basin and assembly of yakuishi stones and plants at which visitors to a tea garden wash themselves physically and ritually. The basin alongside is known as a chozubachi. |
tsukubai-bishaku | the wooden or bamboo ladle which lies across the chozubachi. |
tsuridono | the fishing pavilion attached to Heian shinden residences and gardens. |
tsuro | garden paths. |
tsutai-ochi | lit. 'water dropping on stones'; stones in a complex arrangement to slow down a waterfall; an early example is at Kanjizaio-in in Hiraizumi. |
u |
uchi-roji | the inner garden in a tea garden; usually darker and more confined that the soto roji. |
ueki-ya | professional gardeners from late medieval to early Edo periods. |
umi | sea. |
umibe | seaside or shore. |
ura | inlet or bay. |
v |
w |
wabi | a subdued taste for simple and quiet associated with the Momoyama tea culture. |
x |
y |
yûgen | a Buddhist term; unfathomable depth, grace, nobly reticent; to express infinity by what is not expressed; to show grace and quiet profundity. |
yakuishi | stones placed strategically with the chozubachi in a tsukubai to facilitate use of the stone basin. |
yama | mountain. |
yama-ishi | mountain rock. |
yarimizu | gently murmuring stream, usually flowing from east to southwest; it is an extremely old garden form and usually appears as a very winding, narrow stream. |
yatsuhashi | zig-zag plank walkways constructed across portions of a pond; they often serve as transitions between spaces. |
yosejiki | paving stone layout using two or more distinct types of stones. |
yotsume-gaki | lit. 'four-eyed fence'; a lattice fence. |
yukitsuri | straw ropes and blankets draped over trees for protection during the winter months. |
yu-niwa | purified space in which prayers are sent and divine messages received. |
z |
zensai | an entrance garden. |
zôki | miscellaneous trees and plantings associated with tea gardens. |