Japanese Gardens : A Garden Style

When I first look at Hiroshige’s Plum Garden at Kameido, 1857, I see a grove of flowering trees, with a fence in the background to keep visitors off the lush green grass. The main focal point of this photo is the large tree branch in the foreground. This branch has several offshoots from it with dainty white flowers. Looking past this I see several other trees in the background, all with flowers blooming on them, but none with leaves. In the farthest background, there is a metal fence that is separating several people from the garden of trees. There is also a partial shack in the background on the far most right-hand side of the picture. I also see what appears to be the back of a sign, mostly hidden, in the upper left corner of the foreground. It appears to be sunset during the painting, with the horizon lighter and the higher sky a red color. There are several blocks of oriental writings, a red rectangle in the lower left corner over the body of the tree branch; then two in the top right corner in the sky, one green square and

facilities, residential complexes, office towers, department stores, and high-tech structures are some excellent examples of Japanese Architecture (hkuhist2.hku.hk).

In this day and age, people tend to avoid being different. Fitting in with the status quo when it comes to physical attractiveness is considered the proper thing to do, yet in The Samurai’s Garden, the characters show their beauty in a unique way. Due to their circumstances, Sachi, a once beautiful member of a leper colony, Stephen, a young Chinese student diagnosed with tuberculosis and Matsu, a quiet man who chooses to live in near seclusion, are all regarded as outcasts. However, these challenges give them a chance to grow and mature into truly beautiful people, especially on the inside. Through unveiling Matsu and Sachi’s distinct personalities, Stephen discovers another dimension to beauty; through this, Tsukiyama conveys that the most

Like walking through a barren street in a crumbling ghost town, isolation can feel melancholy and hopeless. Yet, all it takes is an ordinary flower bud amidst the desolation to show life really can exist anywhere. This is similar to Stephen’s journey in The Samurai’s Garden. This novel is about an ailing Chinese boy named Stephen who goes to a Japanese village during a time of war between Japan and China to recover from his disease. By forming bonds with several locals and listening to their stories, he quickly matures into a young adult. Throughout the novel, Gail Tsukiyama shows how disease forces Stephen into isolation; however, Matsu’s garden and Sachi lead him out of solitude.

The gardens of both Matsu and Sachi symbolize them, and this gives the reader an insight on each of their respective personalities. Matsu’s garden turns more riveting and reveals more secrets as one goes deeper through it while Sachi’s garden illustrates that beauty can be in all forms. These descriptions of the garden mirror their owners and give more information about them. One example is that in the later portion of The Samurai Garden, it is revealed that Matsu was one of the primary founders of Yamaguchi. Like his garden, Matsu’s tale only becomes more

The idea that beauty is found in all forms is widely accepted, yet ironically, many still find it a difficult concept to apply to themselves. For example, in The Samurai’s Garden, Sachi finds it challenging to accept herself when she discovers she has leprosy. However, as the story progresses, Sachi says she began to become accustomed to her looks and is not as sensitive to the subject of her disease. Along the way, she discovers that beauty is not always seen with eyes, but felt with the heart and soul. Throughout the novel, Gail Tsukiyama persistently shows that new and unique beauty is stronger and more meaningful than physical appearance or something ordinary through the people Stephen encounters and his experiences.

Characters overcome what life brings them and finding meaning in the things that they have in The Samurai's Garden by Tsukiyama. Stephan who experiences this watches as Matsu and Sachi work in their gardens. The gardens represent their gardener’s soul because they nurture and dictate everything that happens within the gardens walls.

The Samurai’s Garden, written by Gail Tsukiyama, incorporates the various aspect of myth throughout the plot, from how the Japanese worship to the rituals they perform. Stephan-san, a young Chinese man, when he first arrived in Tarumi Japan, discovered the Japanese ritual of being clean. The Japanese in this book had a strong desire to be sanitary in every aspect of their life both physically and morally. They used to be physically clean to visualize being spiritually clean. Another part of the mythology in this novel was the worshipping of the kami deities. These deities dwelled in the shrine near Tarumi and Stephan-san along with Matsu traveled to the shrine to worship and pray to the kami fox deity, the Inari. Two facets of The

"The garden is a world filled with secrets. Slowly, I see more each day. The black pines twist and turn to form graceful shapes, while the moss is a carpet of green that invites you to sit by the pond. Even the stone lanterns, which dimly light the way at night, allow you to see only so much. Matsu 's garden whispers at you, never shouts; it leads you down a path hoping for more, as if everything is seen, yet hidden. There 's a quiet beauty here I only hope I can capture on canvas." - Stephen at the beach house planning to paint Matsu 's garden, page 31

Secrets fill the garden. In Gail Tsukiyama’s novel “The Samurai’s Garden”, she uses metaphors to show the audience the garden and its’ curator in a mysterious light. Tsukiyama’s character Stephen gazes upon Matsu’s garden with wonder and amazement. He compares it to another world, “The garden is a world filled with secrets… Matsu’s garden whispers at you, never shouts; it leads you down a path hoping for more, as if everything is seen, yet hidden” (Samurai 31). Tsukiyama creates another world within the fences of the garden. She integrates the secrets of its’ caretaker into the aura of the garden. The metaphor to another world impacts the reader by allowing the reader to see the mystery and beauty that shrouds it. The cloak of beauty shows

Gail Tsukiyama’s The Samurai’s Garden is set in 1930s Japan, the theme of war and peace is developed through Character interaction. Characters in the story have very different reactions to the same circumstances. Through the character of Stephen, one can conclude that outside forces do not control a person’s life because in life, people can take what has been given to them and do with it what they wish. In other words, life is what you make of it. Even though the war in China is very important to Stephen, he does not let it interfere with his descisions in Tarumi.

In the book “The Samurai’s Garden” by Gail Tsukiyama, a common occurrence that appears in the book is comparisons of a certain character to an Samurai. Since even the title refers to Samurai it leaves the reader wondering, “Who is the real Samurai?” The book gives a lot of evidence for people to think that different characters could be the Samurai. The characters that people mainly think are the “real” Samurai are the main three characters, Stephen, Matsu, and Sachi. All of them carry traits of a Samurai, but at the same time there’s plenty of things to disprove most of them as being the Samurai. In the book Sachi does overcome a tragedy in her life that a lot of people would struggle with but

Serving as an excellent source of healing Annie learns water also stimulates like a nurturing security. As a young child, Annie took unique baths that the local Obeah woman in the town advises her to take. Thus, Annie notes, “My mother and I often took a bath together... it was a special bath in which the barks and flowers of many different trees, together with all sorts of oils, were boiled in the same large caldron… We took these baths after my mother had consulted with her obeah woman” (14). Annie and her mother had special intimate moments in taking natural baths that had barks and flowers which symbolize the peace and comfort with nature. Since her mother valued the Obeah woman advice, the baths symbolized a unique ritual between mother and child. The water showcases the mother’s values that

The role of gardens play a much more important role in Japan than here in the United States. This is due primarily to the fact the Japanese garden embodies native values, cultural beliefs and religious principles. Perhaps this is why there is no one prototype for the Japanese garden, just as there is no one native philosophy or aesthetic. In this way, similar to other forms of Japanese art, landscape design is constantly evolving due to exposure to outside influences, mainly Chinese, that effect not only changing aesthetic tastes but also the values of patrons. In observing a Japanese garden, it is important to remember that the line between the garden and the landscape that surrounds it is not separate. Instead,

Depending on what each person’s purpose was for having a garden, each garden would have different elements. A nurse or midwife would have medicinal herbs, a spinner or weaver would have dye plants, or a decorative garden would have brightly colored flowers. (Pleasant 2004)