karenagare 枯流

Lit. dry stream. A common garden element construction in dry landscape *karesansui 枯山水. Typically it is created by making a stone revetment *karesansui gogan 枯山水護岸 and then raking pebbles or white sand into wave or ripple patterns; in a few examples moss is also be used. Often a stone bridge spans the dry stream to emphasize its symbolic function as a watercourse. Other stones symbolizing a treasure ship takarabune 宝舟 or islands may be placed in the "stream" to further its symbolic status as water. The karenagare usually begins at the base of a dry waterfall *karetaki 枯滝, continuing the flow of water begun there. Outstanding examples include dry streams in gardens at Saihōji 西芳寺 in Kyoto and Tōkōji 東光寺 in Yamanashi Prefecture, from the Kamakura period, Taizōin 退蔵院 at Myōshinji 妙心寺 and Daisen'in 大仙院 at Daitokuji 大徳寺 in Kyoto, from the Muromachi period, as well as those at the Senshūkaku 千秋閣 in Tokushima Prefecture and Nanshūji 南宗寺 in Osaka, from the Momoyama period.