Tea gardens are intimate spaces designed for traditional Japanese tea ceremonies and embrace their philosophy of simplicity, tranquility, and harmony.
Tea master Sen no Rikyu often preferred settings that evoke rustic beauty–wabi. This garden features an elegant tea house surrounded by two stepping-stone pathways for accessing it.
The narrow approach was meant to symbolize pilgrimages to mountain retreats and allow samurai warriors to remove and store their sword weapons before entering a tea hut.
1. Streams & Water
Tea gardens often incorporate streams or ponds as an element of their design, symbolizing purity while creating soothing sounds. Water in such features may even contain domesticated carp known as koi fish (carp known for their affectionate qualities).
Stone lanterns create a soft glow that softly illuminates elements throughout a garden, typically situated at an entrance or transitional area where guests wait before entering a tea house.
Japanese tea gardens contain several demarcated spaces. An anteroom [mizuya] serves to prepare tea utensils before use while sitting room [zashiki] hosts the ceremony itself; finally, a covered waiting arbor [tokonoma] may also be present.
2. Subdued Colors & Texture
The Tea Gardens provide a soothing retreat featuring rock sculptures, “dry” or Zen gardens, Japanese architectural structures and flowing water features. Their design draws influence from various cultural aspects including Shintoism, Buddhism and Taoism.
Sen no Rikyu of Japan created his signature style of tea ceremony during the 16th century that relied heavily on wabi-sabi, an aesthetic concept of rustic beauty. Roji spaces were traditionally created as peaceful natural settings where individuals could relax away from daily stress before entering a tea house for ceremonial tea ceremonies (cha-no-yu).
Enjoy traditional tea and snacks after exploring the Garden by stopping into the Tea House for some traditional Japanese hospitality! It features outer walls of sliding paper doors [shoji], as well as a slate floor – not forgetting its traditional tatami mat area!
3. Natural Elements
Tea gardens feature natural elements such as streams, ponds and waterfalls – symbolizing lakes or oceans and Japanese mountain streams; waterfalls evoke mountain streams as miniature versions. Their presence symbolizes life itself – the desire to lead a long and healthy existence.
These gardens also showcase domesticated Koi fish that symbolize love and affection. Bred with precise breeding techniques, these ornamental carp are available in an array of colors and sizes for viewing pleasure.
Japanese Tea Gardens provide an immersive cultural experience and offer a place for visitors to connect with nature and the art of tea, inducing mindfulness and relieving stress. Their peaceful ambiance encourages mindfulness practice.
4. Open Spaces & Light
Golden Gate Park boasts the oldest Japanese tea garden open to the public in the US, featuring meandering paths past koi ponds, temple gates and pagodas.
These gardens were first built for the 1894 World’s Fair in San Francisco and remain popular attractions today, drawing crowds year after year to enjoy their serene setting and learn more about Japanese culture, art and beauty. It is an excellent opportunity for anyone wanting to gain more insight into Japanese life!
This tea garden was designed to help visitors escape from modern-day stresses and connect with nature, drawing upon both Shinto and Buddhist principles in its layout.
5. Trees & Shrubs
The roji, or natural barrier, serves to distract guests from everyday stressors before entering a tea house for its traditional tea ceremony (chanoyu). Popular designs of this natural barrier may include bamboo gates, moss walls or stone walkways.
A teahouse’s inner garden typically contains a waiting arbor (uchi-koshikake-machiai, “inner seat waiting place”). This simple covered structure allows guests to compose themselves for longer gatherings as well as providing resting spots between servings at shorter ceremonies. Usually, there will also be trees and shrubs within this garden space.
6. Subtle Lighting
Tea gardens are typically lit by lanterns made of bronze, iron and stone that serve both as decoration and as reminders of its beauty and serenity. This lighting adds both an aesthetic touch and spiritual significance for visitors who come here.
Sukiya-zukuri architecture became increasingly understated and artistically unpretentious throughout the Momoyama period and into the Tokugawa period, drawing inspiration from rustic mountain huts and rural farmhouses in rural Japan, drawing its popularity among wabi-sabi tea masters.
Karesansui (dry landscape garden), is a style of Japanese garden where waterfalls and oceans are depicted with stones raked into waves to simulate waterfalls and ocean waves, creating landscapes from carefully placed stones.
