Lit. "deep black stones." A generic name for black stones found in the Nachi 那智 area of Wakayama prefecture and the Kamo 鴨…

Lit. "thrown bean stones." A poetic name for a seemingly random arrangement of stepping stones *…

Lit. "mixed hedge." One type of *ikegaki 生垣 (living fence) in which two or…

A type of bamboo-ear gate takehogaki 竹穂垣 used for projecting fences *sodegaki…

Lit. "polished stone." A vague term which means any stone which is highly finished or polished, but may also refer to the…

A generic name for granite kakōgan 花崗岩, the term originally meant granite quarried in the Mikage 御影 district in the…

Also written 蓑建仁寺垣. Also called takehogaki 竹穂垣. A variation of the bamboo fence *…

Also sudaregaki 簾垣. A bamboo fence made of various kinds of slender bamboo strips that are set horizontally and…

Lit. "re-used-object water basins." A type of water basin *chōzubachi…

Lit. "water hole." The hollowed-out space on the top face of a water basin *…

Lit. "water boat." A type of large boat-shaped stone used for water basins *mitatemono…

Lit. "returning branch." A tree branch which, naturally or by training, turns abruptly downward. The dramatic nature of the…

A somewhat ambiguous term meaning landscape. Because the curving root of a tree, moku 木, was thought to resemble…

Lit. "gate foundation stones." A large, flat stepping stone *yaku-ishi 役石…

Lit. "gate crowning." A tree planted by a garden gate so that its branches extend over the gate. In some cases the branches…

Woods. The sacred grove of trees planted in front of a shrine by a landscape designer.

Lit. "Corrective on Gardens of the Musō Lineage." A late Edo period treatise on landscape gardening. According to the…

Lit. "Treatise on Garden Making." The oldest and most revered Japanese text on garden design, it was probably…

Lit. "three-stage waterfall." One common type of garden waterfall. Through the arrangement of earth and rocks, the waterfall…

Lit. "Buddhist triad stone arrangement." The grouping of one large stone with two smaller flanking stones that lean toward…

Lit. "bamboo grass fence." A living fence or hedge made of low-growing, bamboo grass called kumazasa 熊笹, and…

Lit. "marsh crossing." A path made of stepping stones *tobi-ishi 飛石 placed in…

Limestone. A type of rock rarely used in gardens because of its soft and transient nature, although it was employed as a…

Lit. "glittering green stone." A type of stone similar to granite but containing black granules. Often containing small…

Lit. "spring water." Originally the term referred to spring water running through a garden. In Kyoto, a number of…

Lit. "borrowed scenery." The method of incorporating a distant vista into the composition of a garden. A river, the ocean,…

Also read shibakaki. A very old type of brushwood fencing, originally called fushigaki 布斯垣. Many…

Lit. "Sima Yungong type." One style of natural stone water basin *…

Lit. "brushwood mountain." A type of rustic water basin *chōzubachi…

Also called shichigosan ishigumi 七五三石組 Lit. "seven-five-three-style garden." The arrangement of 15 stones or pruned…

Lit. "shinden-style garden." The quintessential Heian period garden that was built in the central courtyard of…

Lit. "drizzle fence." A type of fence in which bunches of bamboo and bush clover are secured by the top bar of a fence so as…

Lit. "Buddhas of the four directions water basin." A type of water basin made from reused objects *…

Lit. "arrangement of branch and leg stones." One way to arrange the five types of trump stones known as *…

A garden fence with penetrating ties *nuki 貫 that run horizontally from one…

A grouping of three stones, carefully balanced to resemble the character shina 品. The stone arrangement is…

Lit. "tree of immortals." A tree associated with Mt. Penglai *Hōraisan 蓬莱山,…

Lit. "shirakawa stone." A type of granite quarried from the Shirakawa 白川 area north of Kyoto. Soft and easily…

Lit. "four guardian kings stones." Four stones placed in each corner of a garden. The stones serve the same apotropaic…

Lit. "four guardian king trees." A poetic title referring to the maiden-hair or gingko ichō 銀杏, camphor …

Lit. "natural stone water basins." A generic name for a water basin *chōzubachi…

Lit. "natural stone bridge." A type of stone bridge *ishibashi 石橋 made from…

The garden which faces or surrounds the *shoin 書院. No special features are used in shoin…

Also read seijōseki, called nozoki-ishi 覗石 or kiyome-ishi きよめ石. Lit. "pure stone."

…

Lit. "plants." The various plants, trees, bushes, and flowers placed in a garden. The term also is used to refer to gardens…

Meaning genuine tree. The term was coined in the middle Edo period to refer to the dominant or master tree in a garden.…

Originally, a waterfall in nature. With the rise of dry waterfalls *karetaki…

Lit. "master tree." The tree planted on the top, front of a garden hill *tsukiyama…

Lit. "guardian tree." One name given to the main tree planted in the middle of a flat garden hiraniwa 平庭. The term…

Lit. "shrunken scenery." The imitation of a famous scenic spot meisho 名所 in a garden through the creation of a…

Lit. "Mt. Sumeru type stone arrangement." A grouping of stones which expresses Mt. Sumeru *Shumisen…

Lit. "main stone." The stone at the center of a stone arrangement *ishigumi…

Lit. "sleeve fence." A narrow fence which may serve to screen off some garden element or may be completely ornamental.…

Lit. "sleeve shape." A type of water basin *chōzubachi 手水鉢 in…

Lit. "accompanying stones." Stones arranged near to the main stone *shuseki 主石 of a stone…

A type of six-sided lantern. The canopy is thin with half-circled bracken-shoot patterns *…

Lit. "Sōhen fence." A simple type of open fence named after tea master Yamada Sōhen 山田宗へん (1627-1708). Thin bamboo slats are…

Also pronounced sorihashi. Lit. "curved bridge." A general term for an arched bridge. Soribashi include…

Lit. "garden in the style of ink monochrome landscape painting." A modern term used for Chinese style dry gardens *…

Lit. "water ring." The spherical second story of the five-ring pagoda *gorintō…

Lit. "see-through fence." A generic term for any kind of fence through which one can see. This type of open fence is used as…