Japenese Gardens- A Reflection

I now am sure that my ingrained American expectations of a garden are not consistent with what I experienced in the Japanese Gardens. My admiration of simplicity and of spatial awareness grew tremendously as I embraced the natural asymmetrical beauty that the Japanese culture has mastered in the formation of their gardens. While roaming in the Japanese Gardens, I felt strongly connected with the Japanese culture and a deep sense of serenity and stillness yet at the same time there was also energy and an induced appreciation for nature to be found about the gardens.

Certain physical aspects found in the gardens served as some of the main reasons that produced the mood and connections I felt while I was there. Of them include, the consistency of odd numbered elements that were always arranged with hopes to look as they would appear in untouched nature. The Japanese culture is skillfully advanced in achieving this natural feeling of asymmetry with the triangular placement of rocks, trees, and other objects with respect to the whole space. Another physical aspect is the simplicity of the spaces that was especially found in the rock and sand gardens. Instead of typical blooming and colorful flowers and lush greenery, I encountered carefully groomed and patterned sand in perfect circles and rows, slender bamboo sticks, large rocks, cute and quaint trees, and short manicured grass. At times, these spaces felt almost incomplete, but the point of them was to show nature in its most natural manner, which was accomplished.

Another interesting characteristic, aside from these physical aspects, is the way these gardens grasp your attention and infer one to act in certain ways. For example, in some places in the garden, I (as well as my group) knew that it was a place to sit quietly for awhile and reflect on the nature. In other places of the garden, the mood was less still and encouraged me to look around and frequently pause momentarily to absorb my surroundings.