16 
coming to the attention of its two and one-half million subscribers. 
sy an error the illustration was credited elsewhere. 
The Japanese Garden 
aan 
Mr. Vsuyoshi Tamura, in his delightful book, Art of the Land- 
scape Garden im Japan,’ after noting that the Japanese people, 
“when in a poetic or artistie mood . . . sit quietly, and contem- 
plate the mystic presence of the universe,” tells us that ‘ the garden 
of such a people could not have been other than what it is. The 
Japanese Garden is, therefore, primarily to look at. There are, 
no doubt, some exceptions to this in some of the larger gardens, 
but in its ordinary purpose, it was never thought of as a pleasant 
place for rambling and exercise. It is to be looked at for enjoy- 
ment in the same way as the kakemono (scroll painting) in the 
tokonoma”” (drawing-room alcove ). 
“ Love of nature is one of the outstanding racial characteristics 
of the Japanese... . Rather than to enjoy with open-air sports 
the invigorating power of Nature, our way is to sit quietly indoors 
and meditate on its eternal presence. ... It is then but natural 
that this mental habit of a people contemplating Nature while 
sitting quietly indoors should also have been expressed in our gar- 
den art and have caused its singularly picturesque development.” 
The sharp contrast between the Japanese and the American 
conception of a garden its almost daily illustratec 
— 
in the Brooklyn 
Botanic Garden. For us a garden is, above all else, a place to go 
mto, Americans and other occidentals always want to go into 
our Japanese Garden—to walk and sit and have their pictures 
taken im it—to eat lunches there, in fact, if they were allowed. 
The Garden ts kept closed in early spring, so that Japanese garden- 
ers may do the necessary work without constant interruption and 
annoyance from over-curious visitors, and so that the unpaved 
walks and trails may thoroughly dry out before being walked on. 
During this short “closed season” the garden is a beautiful 
picture to look at 
rom without, and the presence of the Japanese 
gardener adds a bit of delightful Japanese “color.” Our Ameri- 
can friends are impatient to get inside, where they really cannot 
! Published by The Society for International Cultural Relations (Nokusai 
Bunka Shinokai). Tokyo, 1935. 
