Japanese Gardens in America 
A PICTURESQUE COMBINATION OF STEPPING STONES, DWARF 
TREES, LANTERNS AND GUARDIAN STONE 
out of the perfumed wood from which the toothpicks 
are made is called kiiro-moji-gaki, and so on. 
“Fences hordering the gardens are built in a 
variety of decorative ways, a favorite of Hakone 
village is a very strong and durable fence. The 
posts are natural trunks of trees, and braces of the 
same material fastened by stout wooden pins are 
secured to one side. The rail consists of similar tree 
trunks partially hewn, while the fence partition con¬ 
sists of small bamboo interwoven in the cross ties.” 
Another fence of a more 
ornamental character is a fav¬ 
orite in Tokio. In this the 
lower part is filled with a mass 
of twigs, held in place by slen¬ 
der cross-pieces, and the upper 
panels consist of sticks of the 
red-pine with a slender vine 
interwoven, making a simple 
trellis. In the popular rush 
fences cylindrical bundles of 
rush are bound together by a 
black fibred root, and held 
together by bamboo pieces; 
while little bundles of fagots, 
tied to each column, forms 
an odd feature of decora¬ 
tion. 
The twig fence of the Homer 
garden is an excellent type of 
the Tokio favorite, the thick 
mass of twigs being held in 
place by three strips of bam¬ 
boo near the top, two near the 
ground, and two strips extend¬ 
ing along the center of the 
fence. I he bamboo fence on 
the northern border of the 
garden is built on the order of 
those of the Hakone village, 
and it is interesting to note the 
position of the upright bamboo 
strips in this instance, as they 
are fastened to the braces on 
the same side as the rough 
supporting posts. The heavily 
roofed gateway is also a char¬ 
acteristic feature carefully 
fashioned under the supervis¬ 
ion of Mr. Furukawa, after a 
Tokio model, where wide over¬ 
hanging roofs and decorative 
side panels are found on the 
majority of garden gates. 
Idle bridges of this ideal 
garden display the same pains¬ 
taking care in keeping them 
purely Japanese in form. In 
fact every detail on the Homer garden is not only fash¬ 
ioned after characteristic types of old Japan, but also 
with special care in carrying out mythological and 
symbolistic features. Other Japanese gardens in this 
country too frequently display a discordant note in 
the introduction of some feature not in keeping with 
the whole; but Mr. Homer, and his competent ad¬ 
visers have carefully eliminated every possible dis¬ 
cord, until this little plot displays one of the best forms 
of a miniature Japanese landscape in America. 
THE THICK TWIG FENCE OF THE HOMER GARDEN IS AN EXCELLENT 
TYPE OF THE TOKIO FAVORITE 
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