A Japanese Garden to most people is a bunch of rocks, plants, and various other items. That is not even close. A Japanese Garden is a way for people to express their emotions and find balance and harmony in nature. They use rocks, plants, and various other items to achieve this. In all actual Japanese Gardens there is contrast meaning if there is a tall jagged rock then nearby is a short smooth rock to balance it.

The Garden does have some general factors like plants, lanterns, etc. but that is not what actually makes up a garden. A garden is composed of many complex factors that make it beautiful to look at but spiritual harmony as well. There is a man named Ken from Baltimore, Maryland. He is a retired Navy officer who was born and has family in Japan. He has his own small Japanese Garden at his home. The garden has stayed the same for about three years. One night he came home and changed his garden. He asked his American wife what he changed, she of course did not know. He then told her that he turned a rock around because it did not feel right to him, that is how significant every element can be.

In our mind the spiritual element wants harmony. The Japanese have mastered this art within their garden, this is all from Yin – Yang. Yin – Yang is the Japanese balance in their form.

Stroll GardensZen Gardens Tea GardensCourtyard Gardens A stroll Garden is a lot like a public park. In the sixth century A.D. Japan courtiers visited China’s imperial gardens and that was their inspiration. The Zen garden is a dry landscape usually completely based around rocks. When Buddhism came to Japan is when these gardens were created from the Buddhist lifestyle of meditation. Tea Gardens consist of a sidewalk from the home to the garden, tea bushes, and a tea house where you can go and make and drink tea in peace. The most common use of the tea house is for the tea ceremony. Guests must wait to be accepted by the host outside the tea house for the ceremony. The Courtyard Garden is just your basic Japanese Garden. These gardens are enclosed and made to be in perfect harmony by using nature’s resources. These gardens are very small, usually only 50 – 100 square feet.

A Japanese Garden consists of different elements like rocks, gravel, plants, paths, and water. Each element serves a purpose even though some are more important than others together they are perfect. Aesthetic Principles You can almost always find the use of asymmetry in a Japanese Garden. This is because of the balance the Japanese look for in the garden. Almost never will you find symmetry.

Akito is the name for maples in japanese. This means the god or master, calm, and at peace or rest. It represents the calmness and peace of the elements and world.