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Japanese Gardens - Explore The Cultural Aspects of A Japanese Garden

By Amy C.

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 17Feb2010 Word count: 413 Viewed: 478 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

A Japanese garden provides a perfect place of beauty and tranquility as an escape from everyday pressures of life for meditation and relaxation and to enrich and restore the body, mind, and spirit.

Here are the three important elements of a typical Japanese garden:

1.) Koi Fish: Koi fish are greatly admired in the Japanese culture for their bravery in fighting their way upstream and are prized for their bright colors and beautiful shapes. Koi have been carefully bred for hundreds of years to heighten their attributes. Today a highly pirzed fish may be worth a thousands of dollars. A typical Japanese garden usually consists of streams and waterfalls filled with beautiful Koi fish. The Koi fish are essential part of the water streams of Japanese gardens.

2.) Lanterns: A typical Japanese garden consists of several different types of lanterns. Some of the most common lanterns are Yukimi doro - a short lantern with a large top that is placed on the edge of the water. It is placed on the edge so that its flame will seem to float above the surface of the water. It is said that it was first called "Ukimi" because the firelight seemed to float on the water. Uki means "float" and mi means "seems to". The second type of lantern that is common is known as "ishidoro". It is made out of stone and it is placed near the tea house for providing mild lights during the evening tea ceremonies.

3.) Bamboo Fountains: Bamboo fountains are usually the most aesthetic features of Japanese gardens are are located by the entrance of the tea house. They are used as ablution elements, i.e., cleansing rituals are performed with the bamboo fountains before starting the religious or social ceremonies. There are two main types of Japanese bamboo fountains - Tsukubai fountains and Shishi-Odoshi fountains. Both these types are made from bamboo spouts. They are unique in design and simply stunning in their appearance. Both the types of bamboo fountains are very popular in western culture for their aesthetic looks are are typically used as classic garden decor elements.

Most of the Japanese gardens are designed so as to create visually separate areas of the four elements that represent ten(sky), kai(sea), chi(land), and ji(time). This type of garden is called “kare san sui” and is traditionally associated with zen temples as a means of meditation. It is also known as “Choh Sei En”, the garden of pure lucidity.

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