Small Japanese Garden Ideas For Serenity

Small Japanese garden designs have stemmed from limited housing space in Japan as well as a minimalist approach to art. Ma, the Japanese aesthetic of the space between things, is one of the underlying principles to using limited space wisely. Sometimes called a tsubo-niwa in Japanese, a small Japanese garden can bring sophistication and peacefulness to any area. 2010 was Nara's 1300th Anniversary as the birthplace of Japan as we know it today. In 2010 the 27th National Urban Gardening Festival was held at Umami Hills Park in the center of Nara. The festival gathered the best garden designers around for a competition of more modern Japanese gardens as well as traditional Japanese gardens. Below is a video I made of some of the more traditional gardens for a smaller space, although some are still quite unique.

Visit our Online Webstore featuring the music that you just heard, as well as other Japanese gifts and works of art.

The music was from the 'Mahoroba' CD.

In a small Japanese garden choosing the right Japanese garden ornaments and Japanese garden furniture is important in deciding the feeling of the garden. As you saw from the video, in more traditional gardens the use of color and assorted flowers is often kept to a minimum.

So you think you don't have enough space for a garden? Here is a picture of the house on the corner of my street in Nara, Japan. Nice front yard.

Kyoto is famous for its tsubo-niwa, a courtyard garden, and there are many great examples of houses with this type of small display garden. Often they can be scene from various angles within the home, as they can sometimes be set in the middle of the house with the roof open.

The average western gardener's house would probably better accommodate a garden that was next to the house, a corner of the yard, or along a narrow pathway leading to the backyard possible. Having a good wall around the area will also help define which area is the garden and which isn't. There are principles when creating a garden, however originality and your satisfaction should also weigh heavily in the small Japanese garden design.

Serene Gardens Webstore
Smaller Modern Japanese Gardens
Ma - The Japanese Aesthetic of Space in Art
Japanese Gardens
"Zen" Rock Gardens