BALANCE AND UNITY 239 



in our own rainy islands ; and where the frequent 

 danger of earthquakes and the consequent use 

 of wooden buildings must not be lost sight of. 



The Japanese landscape garden suffers with 

 us to some extent from its name, for unlike the 

 English landscape style, which had only a mis- 

 taken romanticism behind it, garden craft in 

 Japan is as exquisitely balanced and restrained 

 in its harmony of house and garden as is the most 

 formal old English pleasance or stately Mughal 

 bagh. Throughout every Japanese garden, from 

 the largest to the smallest, the scale of the whole 

 design is strictly maintained, so that the house, 

 the garden gates, the enclosing railings, even 

 the stone lanterns, all combine to enhance and 

 emphasise its general character. So strong is 

 the national feeling for beauty in its real sense 

 of balance and unity, that the most valuable 

 garden ornament may be worthless in the eyes 

 of the owner of a simple garden. 



Far as the Lotus travelled in Asia, its journeys 

 were not completed there, for within recent years 

 its spirit entered English gardens with the advent 

 of the Japanese iris. Fresh points of view and a 

 change of technique give an impetus to every 

 art ; details may with advantage be transplanted 



