Glossary

Many of the Japanese words in this glossary have changed their meanings over the course of Japan's history. This is particularly true of terms associated with, or synonymous with, the word "garden." Although I have given alternate definitions for some of the terms, a complete study of the etymology of this subject would go well beyond the limitations of this web site. Readers who wish more information on garden terminology should consult the starred texts included in the bibliography, although they will discover that those sources are often in disagreement over the origins, meanings, and Latinization of many of the terms.

The Japanese language does not distinguish between singular and plural nouns. Hence any one of the following Japanese terms can be either singular or plural.

Amanohashidate - A long, narrow, pine-covered sand bar in Miyazu Bay, one of the three most revered landscapes in Japan. Often evoked in landscape design, most notably in the garden of the Katusura Detached Imperial Villa in Kyoto.

Ariso (also araiso) - Literally "rocky shore," a group of rocks set at a water's edge and designed to evoke a rugged seashore.

Bon-seki - The art of placing pebbles on a sand-covered tray, the dry equivalent of bonsai. Some analysts relate the famous Zen garden at Ryoan-ji to this practice.

Chisen - Pond (see also "ike" and "enchi").

Chisen kaiyu teien - Literally "pond spring stroll garden," a description of those gardens of the Muromachi Period and later in which one is intended to move through or around the garden on foot, instead of viewing it from the veranda of a pavilion or hojo, or from a boat.

Chisen shuyu teien - Literally "pond spring boating garden," describing those estate gardens of the Heian aristocracy (and their later imitators). Such gardens were intended to be the setting for boating parties and other pond-based festivities.

Dejima - Peninsula.

Enchi - Pond (see also "ike" and "chisen"). Enchi can also be a synonym for garden.

Feng shui - The Chinese tradition of geomancy, or the propitious location and orientation of cities, buildings, interiors, and gardens. Many of its rules appear to have been followed by Japanese garden designers, although an exact and intentional correspondence is often difficult to prove.

Hojo - The residence of the abbot of a Japanese Buddhist monastery. Often the site of the most famous of Japanese temple gardens.

Ike - Pond. An ikeniwa is a pond garden (the terms enchi and chisen are also used).

Ishi - Rock or stone. Compounds that employ the term include ishigumi (the arrangement of stones), ishidoro (stone lantern), ishiniwa (stone garden), and ishihama (pebble beach). See also ishodateso .

Ishidateso - Priests—often of the Shingon sect of Buddhism—who were associated with the design of gardens in the late Heian and Kamakura Periods. Literally "a priest who raises stones."

Ishidoro - Stone Lantern

Isles of the Blest - Five mythical islands located somewhere off the coast of east Asia. Three are often named: Horai, Hojo, and Eishu. According to Daoist belief, they are the home of immortals. The real and implied islands of Japanese gardens are sometimes considered recreations of these blessed isles.