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IMPORTANT NOTICE: JGO Merger with North American Japanese Garden Association
The Japanese Gardening Organization is considering a merger into the North American Japanese Garden Association (NAJGA), an organization with a similar mission and goals. This means that this website will no longer exist, but most resources will then be available through the NAJGA website. You can learn more about NAJGA here.
If you have any comments or questions, please send to don@japanesegardening.org.
What Does “Zen Garden” Refer To?
The karesansui 枯山水, or dry landscape garden is the most widely known and most celebrated of Japan’s gardening styles, and it invariably forms a part of the stereotypical image that most people associate with Zen Buddhism and the temples of Kyoto. In essence, the dry landscape garden is a symbolic representation of mountains and water using rocks, sand, gravel, and moss. Learn more in The Japanese Garden Handbook, Chapter 5: The Dry Landscape Garden.
Views of the magnificent kare-ike at Senshūkaku-teien (Kyū-Tokushima-jō-omote-goten-teien), Tokushima, Shikoku. (Photo by Andrew R. Deane)
NAJGA 2020 Biennial Conference - Japanese Friendship Garden, San Diego
The conference will be rescheduled to take place in the fall of 2021.
In lieu of this October’s conference, and to put adaptability and resilience into action, NAJGA would like to organize a series of live and recorded webinars (lectures, demonstrations, etc.) on various topics. We plan to begin these webinars in the summer of this year. Our first webinars will focus on Morikami Museum & Japanese Gardens’ Stroll for Well-Being program on June 17th and June 24th. We will send a call for additional proposals within the next month, but if you have any ideas please don’t hesitate to share them with us.
For more information and registration, see https://najga.org/events/ .
For more events and opportunities, see
Japanese Gardening Organization’s CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Japanese Gardens in the News:
COVID 19 GARDEN UPDATES:
In an effort to continue to serve as a resource for Japanese garden lovers, NAJGA has compiled a
partial list of Japanese gardens in North America and indicated whether they have closed or
remained open given the COVID-19 situation. NAJGA Covid 19 Garden Updates
Momoyama Style Residential Garden – Rockport, Maine
A private garden in Rockport, Maine was designed in a style favored by Japanese warlords of 16th century Japan (Momoyama Period). These amazing stones were discovered in the woods near the project. Lee Schneller and her staff artfully arranged them to embrace this peaceful pond. The owners are able to enjoy the view from inside their home, outside in a seating area, and from a second story deck. See more photos of the garden and its construction here:
Momoyama Style Residential Garden.
Previous Feature: The Japanese Garden of Terry Gerlach.
Chaji – Formal Tea Gathering
by Professor Elliot Mitchnick
A detailed, 5-part account of a formal Japanese tea ceremony by Elliot Mitchnick, who holds the rank of Junkyoju (Associate Professorship) of Urasenke, the 400 year old tradition of Tea headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. The articles feature tea terms along with their kanji. In addition, most terms have definitions available by holding your mouse over the word.
“Our tea will be a standard tea called Shogochaji 正午茶事 , a noon tea. It is October. The days are beginning to become colder and the leaves are starting to change. The Host decides to host a formal tea… “
JGO welcomes submissions of articles and essays for consideration. Send to development@japanesegardening.org.
See also the article on a private Japanese garden under
the FEATURE PROJECT tab.
Japanese Garden Organization on Facebook
News & Events in Japanese Gardening Worldwide
Michael Roybal
Japanese Gardening Organization, Intl. would like to thank Board Member, Michael Roybal, for providing years of continuous Facebook posts on Japanese garden news, projects and events worldwide. Join the thousands in following JGO on Facebook and take advantage of Michael’s work to bring us interesting and beautiful Japanese gardening posts.
Complete Japanese Garden Handbook Online
The Japanese Garden Handbook
Andrew R. Deane
Members of Japanese Gardening Organization now have access to this complete encyclopedic work online. For more information, please visit https://japanesegardening.org/handbook/register. With 5 volumes, 48 chapters and thousands of pages, along with hundreds of high quality photographs in this work, a printed version was too costly. This digital format keeps with the ultimate goal of a Japanese garden ‘WIKI’ - a dynamic and ever-evolving resource like no other. With a WIKI format, we hope to see members submit additions to be considered.
Japanese Gardening Reference
Learn how to tie a knot for bamboo fences, or decide what tools you need. JGO Reference section includes articles on theory, design and how-to’s on construction, plants, pruning, lanterns, stones, garden terminology and more.
Japanese Gardening Forums
18,000 entries by over 1000 Japanese Gardening enthusiasts around the world. The Japanese Garden Forum discussion boards include history, design & construction, maintenance, plants, stone, water, bamboo fences, structures, and more.
Events & Education
Learn how to work with bamboo, prune pines, or build a Japanese garden in events around the world in the events calendar and via discussions in the Japanese gardening forums.
Japanese Garden Search
Discover Japanese gardens on almost every continent in this comprehensive database. Search by keywords to narrow your hunt. Includes location, garden info, photos and more.
Japanese Garden Publications
Japanese Garden Marketplace
Special Sections
Chaji - A Formal Tea Ceremony
A wonderful five part series on the “Way of Tea” by Elliot Mitchnick, Associate Professor of Urasenke, the 400 year old tradition of Tea headquartered in Kyoto, Japan is presented in Chaji, A Formal Tea Ceremony. (If you have Japanese enabled on your browser, you will see most tea terms with their kanji. In addition, most terms have definitions available by holding your mouse over the word.)
Ka-tei, Japanese Architecture, Japanese Garden
The essential relationship between architecture and garden is discussed in Ka-tei, Japanese Architecture, Japanese Garden. Japanese carpenter, Chris Hall, gives an overview of the relationships between house and garden in traditional Japanese residential architecture. (If you have Japanese enabled on your browser, you will see most terms with their kanji, and most terms have definitions available by holding your mouse over the word.)
Sister City Garden Virtual Tour
A profile of a sister city garden, Kumamoto En Japanese Garden, created in partnership with Japanese designers and craftsmen and US craftsmen. This is a detailed walking tour with the names and descriptions of the garden features linked to definitions, English, Romaji, and Kanji names as well.
Japanese Gardens - Notes on Perspectives, Perceptions & Synthesis
Doubt ...
Japanese garden designer, Mark Bourne, reflects on his experience as apprentice to a Master gardener in Kyoto in “DOUBT, Learning to see the Japanese Garden.“
