Design Toolbox

Japanese Garden Terms

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Aso-san 阿蘇山- Mount Aso is the active volcano that stands above Kumamoto prefecture on the Kyushu island of Japan.

azumaya 東屋 – a four-sided tea-waiting arbor with a pyramid roof. The symbol used for the Katsura Manji-tei is 宮卍. The "manji" arrangement has the four benches arranged where they do not face each other.

chaji 茶事 - the term used today for a formal tea gathering. The host will serve a meal in the tea kaiseki style, but the emphasis is on thin tea (usucha) and thick tea (koicha). An abbreviated gathering where no meal is served is called 'chakai' (tea meeting).

Chanoyu  茶の湯 - means "hot water for tea," and refers to the Japanese tea ceremony and the" Way of Tea".

chashitsu 茶室 - a traditional tearoom used for chaji or chakai. It can be a free-standing building or a room within another building.

chawan 茶碗 - tea bowl. In Tea, it refers to the bowl used to make and serve tea to guests.

chozubachi 手水鉢 - stone basin for washing. Chozubachi are used as part of the tsukubai, or “place where one must bend down”. It is part of the physical and spiritual cleansing in order to partake in the tea ceremony. In the tsukubai, it is always placed low so one must crouch down in order to use it.

chumon 中門 - middle gate. This is the middle gate within a tea garden. It is the passage from the outer garden to the inner tea garden, and the symbolic door from the outside world to the inner pure world of tea.

Daimyo 大名 – the Japanese Lord of the Land (10th - 19th century Japan). It is literally "Great Names", these were the heads of powerful clans who controlled domains and
provinces in medieval Japan.

ensyu 遠州 - 5 stones set in a pattern to orient the visitor to certain view directions.

Fuji-san 富士山 - the highest and most famous of Japan's mountains.

Furuta Oribe 古田織部 - well-known tea master and warlord. He is credited with many innovations in the tea garden and ceremony.

gyo 行 – of the semi-formal style.  It is sometimes used to describe Japanese glazed ceramics.

hama 浜 – beach, coast or river bank.

hishaku 柄杓 – water ladle made of bamboo.

ishi-doro 石灯籠 – (ishidourou) Japanese stone lantern. See the Stone Lanterns reference for more information.

ishi-bachi 石橋- stone bridge. It is more commonly called "ishibashi".

izumi ishi-gumi 湧水石組 - spring water stone arrangement. An arrangement to represent a mountain spring. See also wakimizu ishi-gumi.

kame  亀 - turtle. A Japanese symbol of good luck and long life.

karikomi - 刈込み – clipped hedge.Literally "to shear."

Katsura gaki 桂垣 - a bamboo fence type named from Katsura Detached Palace in Kyoto.

Katsura Rikyu 桂離宮 - Detached Palace in Kyoto, Japan. It is known for the excellent gardens and structures surrounding the central lake.

Kenninji-gaki 建仁寺垣 - a style of bamboo fence named for its use in Kennin-ji Temple. See Kenninji gaki for more information.

kyaku-ishi 客石 - visitor stone. This is a wide stepping stone just outside the chuumon (middle gate) of the garden.

koshikake machiai  腰掛け待ち合い -  a waiting room in the inner garden.  Tea guests would wait here in the beginning and in between parts of a tea ceremony.

kuromatsu 黒松 – Japanese black pine (Pinus thunbergii).

machiai 待合 - tea waiting room, usually with three walls and a pitched roof, leaving the front open.

mae-ishi 前石 - a low, flat stone set in front of a chozubachi or lantern and used to stand on. It is 3 or 4 inches higher that the stepping stones.

matsu 松 - pine tree.

mizu-sashi 水指 -  cold water container.

mizu-hotaru toro 水蛍燈籠 - also "mizu botaru" water-firefly lantern. See Mizu-hotaru Toro for more information.

mizu-waki ishi  水分石  – water separating stone near the bottom of a waterfall separating a stream into two streams.

momiji もみぢ - Japanese maple (Acer palmatum or Acer japonicum).

niju-masu 二重桝 - double measure. This is the "container within a container" design used in some chozubachi basins.

nozura ishi-gumi 野面石組 - field stone arrangement. In the Daimyo fence, it can be a knee wall on which the fence is built.

Oribe Lantern 織部灯籠 - a stone garden lantern named for Furuta Oribe, a well-known warlord and tea master. See Oribe lantern for more information.

Otsu-gaki 大津垣 - a fence made from woven vertical strips of bamboo.

rangui 乱杭 – palisade-like edging constructed of wood posts set vertically.

roji 露地 - the “Dewy Path”.  The garden path from the ordinary world to the world of tea.

ryu kuchihige 竜口髭 - dragon's mustache. A term used for dwarf mondo grass (Ophiopogon japonicus nana).

sandan no ishi gumi - 三段の滝 - three stage waterfall.

sanko doro 三光灯籠 - three lights lantern. This is a moveable stone lantern named for its three lights - the sun, the moon, and the stars. See sanko doro for more information.

sasa 笹 – bamboo grass.

shin 真 - of the formal style.  It is sometimes used to describe Japanese glazed ceramics.

Shogun 将軍 – a military leader, usually inheriting the post.

so 草 - of the informal style.  It is sometimes used to describe Japanese glazed ceramics.

sotetsu 蘇鉄 - sago palm (Cycas revoluta).

sotoroji 外露地 – the outer portion of the Tea garden outside the middle gate.

suimon – water gate. This hole serves as a drain and to regulate the water in the drain basin of a tsukubai.

Suizenji Park 水前寺 - a well-known Japanese garden located in downtown Kumamoto, Japan.

hashibasami 手挟 - the four "anchor" stones at the corners of a stone bridge. These stones give the feeling of direction and stability to the bridge arrangement.

take bishaku 竹柄杓 - a bamboo ladle used to dip water to purify the mouth and hands before entering a sacred place.

take gaki 竹垣 - bamboo fence.

taki-gumi 滝組石 – stone waterfall arrangement. It can be either a wet waterfall or dry kare-take 枯滝 symbolic waterfall.

teoke 手桶 - a Japanese water bucket, usually of wood or split bamboo.

teshoku 手燭 - a hand-carried candle holder. It is usually iron with three legs.

teshoku-ishi 燭石  - a stone for holding a lantern or candlestick holder. It is flat-topped stone, shorter than the youke-ishi and placed to the left of the basin.  The Uresenke School of Tea calls for it to be located on the right.  It is used during a night-time tea ceremony.

tsukubai つくばい - “place where one must bend down”. The tsukubai is a place rather than the basin itself. It is in the inner roji and centered around a chozubachi surrounded by special stones such as the crouching stone, lantern stone, hot water stone, etc. The tsukubai area is usually 5 to 15 steps from the tearoom.

tsukubai hishaku – an oversized hishaku (wooden tea water ladle) used to draw water to rinse the mouth and hands. It usually rests on the edge of the chozubachi.

tsuru 鶴 – crane, also a symbol of good luck and long life, fidelity and peace.

tsurushima 鶴島 – (also tsuru-jima) crane island.

tsuyu 露 - dew. The tea flower arrangement is sprinkled with water to emulate dew – a sign of freshness.

uchiroji 内露地 – the inner Tea garden between the middle gate and the Tea house. This is where the tsukubai is located.

Urasenke (Ura Senke) – a school of the Way of Tea.

wakimizu ishi-gumi 湧水石組 - spring water stone arrangement. An arrangement to represent a mountain spring.

yaku-ishi 役石 – named stones that play and important role in the tea garden. Here, it refers to the 4 stones used in the tsukubai arrangement.

Yasuimoku Koumuten Company - designer of Kumamoto En. The company has specialized in renovation, restoration and construction of traditional Japanese structures since the late 1700's.

yuoke-ishi 湯桶石 – stone for warm water pail. It is taller than the teshoku-ishi and usually to the right of the water basin. The Uresenke School of Tea calls for it to be located on the left. A bucket of warm water placed on this stone would be used in cold weather instead of the chozubachi.

zazen-ishi 座禅石 - meditation stone. Usually a large, flat-toped boulder one may sit upon for meditation in the garden.