Japanese Gardening for Small Areas 275 



bamboo fence covered with wistaria encloses a yard containing a pair of 

 cranes — white, with black markings — that look as though they might have 

 just alighted from a flight across a Japanese fan. Paths, rather wider than 

 those of gardens in Japan, are mtroduced of necessity, as this garden is 

 quite a public place. Where the walks lead over uneven ground, low, broad 

 steps are cut into the earth, each being banked with a log cut the width 

 of the path. 



One would never know it was a square garden until after complete 

 exploration, as only a part of it can be seen from any single position, owing 

 to the distribution of its knolls, larger trees, and buildings. Much of its 

 charm would doubtless be lost with any cutting away of shrubbery that 

 would reveal more to the eye and leave less to the imagination. 



A garden of this kind is one of constant study and development, and 

 becomes to the Japanese a little land of poetry, full of quaint symbolism 

 and refined ornament, appealing to the higher senses. To know this garden 

 is to love it, and its subtle charm does not fail. Of all restful places, it is 

 most so, and, though of small compass, there are many points of view, with 

 seats artfully placed, where pleasing vistas reward the eye. There are a 

 score of garden-lovers in San Francisco who feel that they must visit it at 

 least once a week and watch Mr. Hagiwara, the gardener, at his work. 



In a certain city a library window that once looked out on a thirty-by- 

 forty back yard of the plainest description — a typically dreary back yard — 

 now offers a view of a tiny Japanese landscape where moderate-sized stones 

 represent boulders and bushes stand for trees. The stepping-stones are 

 small, it is true, but they lead around knolls and bits of shruobery and across 

 a tiny bridge. A bamboo trellis above the board fence supports vines that 

 shut from view everything undesirable. 



A friend with whom we drank tea in the San Francisco garden has 

 written this: "I have a Japanese garden growing in my mind. Some day 

 the painted wooden steps leading up past the side of the house into the yard 

 in the rear will be replaced by rough stones. Farther back the planks must 

 come up and be burned, and there shall be irregular stones to step upon. 

 Ferns and small pines shall grow in porcelain bowls, and there will be some 

 mossy stones in the corner where it is always shady. Bits of bamboo trellis 

 with wistaria shall serve as screens where the outlook is unsightly. Pines 

 shall grow on the north terrace and make silhouettes against the sky. The 

 useless shed shall somehow be converted into a Japanese summer house. 



