Japanese Rock Garden – 枯山水 Karesansui

Often called a Zen Garden , the Japanese stone garden – (枯山水 Karesansui ) is a type of garden that suggests mountains and water using only stones, sand or gravel, and occasionally plants. Water is symbolized by the arrangement of rock forms to create a dry waterfall and by patterns in the raked sand to create a dry flow or, like the blank space in Japanese paintings, emptiness and distance.

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In the Sakuteiki (first known manual of Japanese gardening) there are several rules for the organization of the rocks in a karesansui . One must “ensure that all stones, from the front of the arrangement, are placed with the best faces showing. If a stone has a not very attractive top it should be placed so as to give prominence to its side. There should always be more horizontal stones than vertical stones”

The most common arrangement is one or more groups of three rocks. A common triad arrangement has upright stone flanked by two smaller rocks, representing the Buddha and his two attendants.

Other important principles in choosing rocks are variety of colors, shapes and sizes, to avoid brightly colored rocks that can distract the viewer, and to ensure that the rock grains tend in the same direction.

Stone arrangements and other miniature elements are used to represent mountains and water represents natural elements and scenes, islands, rivers, and waterfalls. In most gardens, moss is used to cover the ground to create forest-covered ‘land’.

If you are traveling in Japan, do not hesitate to visit a Karesansui. It is really worth it and the time to admire such beautiful arrangements.