zentei 前庭

Lit. "front garden." A general term referring to the garden in front of a building. In contrast to the main garden which is a focus of attention, the zentei is typically more utilitarian, often just the planted area around an entry path. Different types of zentei include gardens between the middle gate *chūmon 中門, and main structure in shinden 寝殿, *shoin 書院, and *hōjō 方丈 complexes. The term also refers to the garden along the entry path between the Chūmon and Koshoin 古書院 at Katsura Rikyū 桂離宮 in Kyoto. Zentei is used interchangeably with nantei 南庭, nan'en 南苑, and zen'en 前苑.