According to the Chinese classic, Rakuyo-Meienki, there are six excellent elements that can go into forming a garden. “If there is spaciousness, seclusion will be diminished. If artifice dominates, it lacks antiquity. If there are many watercourses, it will lack commanding views. Koen garden is the only garden that combines these six elements.”
The Kenrokuen Garden in Kanazawa translates as “Garden of the Six Sublimities”. Strolling the grounds, it seemed the Kenrokuen Garden sacrificed seclusion to spaciousness so I’d knock the number down to five. But then, when it comes to the sublime, I’m a hardline guy and lean towards Edmund Burke’s view that it involves a feeling of terror and awe. The Kenrokuen was more about tranquil beauty, placid ponds and well-pruned groves.
At the northern end of the garden is Seison Kaku, a Meiji era villa that we padded through checking out plump-faced Gosho dolls, inlaid wooden ceilings, and…patterned wainscoting. Only the Japanese, accustomed to sitting and sleeping on floors, would take time to do artwork on something that low to the ground.
Like most of the historical living quarters we’ve toured, the Shinto spirit prevails and it’s all about the zen garden. In this case the small garden had trees planted and pruned to symbolize tortoises, a symbol of longevity, good luck, and wisdom.
Lovely.!
It would be interesting to compare Capability Brown and English gardens to this.
There are a lot of similarities, although I’d say Capability Brown’s gardens are more vast, more open. The trees in Japanese gardens seem more dense.