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. "standing water basin." A type of tall basin *chōzubachi 手水鉢 that can…

A hedge, 3 to 5 m high, planted as a wind screen or for fire control.

Lit. "bamboo and horsetail tokusa 木賊 fence."

1　A fence that has split and crushed bamboo…

Lit. "bamboo fence." A generic name for any kind of fence made with bamboo. Specific types include *…

Also written 竹柵. A roughly constructed bamboo fence with horizontal pieces placed close to the top, at the center, and at…

Lit. "waterfall stone arrangement." A type of stone arrangement used for garden waterfalls. Also pronounced taki-…

Lit. "round stone." A boulder about 15-30 cm across, which has been naturally rounded by a river or ocean waves. Often…

Lit. "jewelled edge."

1　The tip on the rear, narrow end of a half-round roof tile *…

Lit. "Tanba stone." A type of granite from the Kameoka 亀岡 region, northwest of Kyoto. High in iron, it is used for pavements…

A dominating garden stone that is set in an upright position. The term appears first in the *…

Also written 立子 or 建子, read tatego.

1　 A generic term for the vertical muntins on lattice…

Lit. "multiple-island style." More than two islands constructed in a chisen 池泉 (pond and stream) type garden.

Lit. "flat iron stone." A type of andesite quarried in the Suwa 諏訪 and Kitasaku 北佐久 regions of Nagano Prefecture. The flat,…

Lit. "musket fence." A type of *sodegaki 袖垣 or *…

Lit. "stepping stone stairs." A type of stepping stone *tobi-ishi 飛石, placed on a slope to…

Lit. "evergreen tree." A pine matsu 松, cryptomeria sugi 杉, or sakaki 榊, found in almost all types…

A type of formal fence associated with the walls surrounding nobles' homes and tearooms *…

Lit. "Commentary on Landscape Gardens."

1　A mid-Edo book written by garden designer Kitamura Enkin…

The older term is *kasan 仮山. Lit. "constructed mountain."…

Lit. "constructed spring." The artificial watercourse built to conduct spring water into a garden. The term, found in the…

Lit. "crane island." A garden island made with several stones and, usually, a pine to suggest the flight of a crane. As a…