tsurujima 鶴島

Lit. "crane island." A garden island made with several stones and, usually, a pine to suggest the flight of a crane. As a symbol of longevity, a crane island is often paired with a tortoise island *kamejima 亀島 in pond gardens and dry ponds *kareike 枯池 of *hōrai yōshiki 蓬莱様式. In contrast to the more suggestive shape of the tortoise island, the crane island is more abstract, featuring one or more large triangular stones and small shrubs or a pine. In a few cases, a long thin stone is used to express the crane's head tsurukubi-ishi 鶴首石, and small wing stones hane-ishi 羽石 are placed on either side.