Japanese Gardens outside of Japan: From the Export of Art to the Art of Export

Abstract

Since the 19th century, a Japanese garden as a cultural phenomenon with a millennium-old history of religion and philosophy-based landscaping art has been exported to different regions of the globe and built in countries far from the land of its origin. The article focuses on two aspects of Japanese gardens: the basic and more specific principles of planning and design of a traditional Japanese garden, and the related discourse of a tradition of exporting its planning and design cultural tradition outside of Japan. Based on analysed international examples of Japanese-style gardens, the specific traits of planning the landscape of these gardens were identified. The narrative of multiple psycho-emotional effects that these gardens have on their users and visitors is disclosed in correlation with the specific aspects of their planning and design. The culture of exporting a Japanese garden tradition overseas is discussed and the important principles for introducing a Japanese garden to a remote cultural context are spotlighted. The concluding remarks on the user-oriented culture of exporting a Japanese garden as a complete planning and design system of landscape architecture, reflect author’s aspiration to open a wider cross-professional discussion and research on the topic.

Santrauka

Japonijos sodai – tai tūkstantmetes tradicijas turintis filosofija ir religija grįstas kraštovaizdžio architektūros kultūrinis reiškinys, kurio pavyzdžiai nuo XIX a. yra eksportuojami ir įrengiami skirtinguose pasaulio regionuose. Kraštovaizdžio architektūros požiūriu straipsnyje nagrinėjami du Japonijos sodų aspektai: esminiai šių sodų suplanavimo ir įrengimo principai bei specifiniai bruožai, taip pat Japonijos sodų meninės tradicijos eksporto ir sklaidos užsienyje klausimai. Visame pasaulyje garsių Japonijos sodų pavyzdžių apžvalga ir pasirinktų Baltijos jūros regiono pavyzdžių tyrimas atskleidžia esminius šių sodų suplanavimo principus, kurie sietini su lankytojams formuojamu psichologiniu emociniu poveikiu. Aptariant Japonijos sodų eksporto į kitus etninius ir geografinius regionus klausimus iškeliama jų integravimo į skirtingą kultūrinį kontekstą problema. Straipsnis apibendrinamas baigiamosiomis nuostatomis, kurios apibrėžia tolesnio Japonijos sodų meno diskurso lauką nuo vartotojo poreikių iki vientisos kraštovaizdžio sistemos eksporto galimybių, išreiškia autoriaus siekį atverti šia tema platesnį tyrimų ir diskusijų lauką.

First Publish Online: 22 May 2013

Reikšminiai žodžiai: kraštovaizdžio architektūra, Japonijos sodai, kultūrinis integravimas, teritorijų planavimas, urbanistika, kultūrinis eksportas

Full text

212 http://www.tpa.vgtu.lt/
UR BA NIS TI KA IR AR CHI TEK TŪ RA
TOWN PLAN NING AND AR CHI TEC TU RE
ISSN 1392-1630 print / ISSN 1648-3537 online
2011 35(3): 212–221
doi:10.3846/tpa.2011.22
JAPANESE GARDENS OUTSIDE OF JAPAN: FROM THE EXPORT OF ART
TO THE ART OF EXPORT
Gintaras Stauskis
Vilnius Gediminas Technical University,
Pylimo g. 29/Trakų g. 1, 01132 Vilnius, Lithuania
E-mail: gintaras.stauskis@vgtu.lt
Submitted 1 May 2011
Abstract. Since the 19th century, a Japanese garden as a cultural phenomenon with a millennium-old history of religion and phi-
losophy-based landscaping art has been exported to dierent regions of the globe and built in countries far from the land of its
origin. e article focuses on two aspects of Japanese gardens: the basic and more specic principles of planning and design of a
traditional Japanese garden, and the related discourse of a tradition of exporting its planning and design cultural tradition outside
of Japan. Based on analysed international examples of Japanese-style gardens, the specic traits of planning the landscape of these
gardens were identied. e narrative of multiple psycho-emotional eects that these gardens have on their users and visitors is
disclosed in correlation with the specic aspects of their planning and design. e culture of exporting a Japanese garden tradition
overseas is discussed and the important principles for introducing a Japanese garden to a remote cultural context are spotlighted.
e concluding remarks on the user-oriented culture of exporting a Japanese garden as a complete planning and design system of
landscape architecture, reect author’s aspiration to open a wider cross-professional discussion and research on the topic.
Keywords: landscape architecture, Japanese garden, cultural tradition, planning, design, cultural exchange, export of art.
Introduction
In today’s globalising world people are actively exchan-
ging all types of products, knowledge and experience.
e speed and the range of this exchange are increa-
sing dramatically beyond the limits of perception as a
result of market-driven industrial development, and
this is essentially dierent from what was available
just a century ago. Import and export have covered
all areas of human activity, even the most incredible
ones. Whether good or bad, but certainly dierent is
the way how we perceive and accept imported products
both materially and culturally. Imported goods have a
signicant impact on nutrition, clothing, environment
and the life style of a modern citizen, which deserves a
special attention of researchers. Modern communities
could be described by a triple reection of their identi-
ty in social, environmental and economical scenarios,
which are aected by rapid global exchange of uniform
lifestyles. In architecture, similar construction tech-
niques, materials and working methods require simi-
lar solutions. Even urban planning and design patterns
are CAD-generated and spread rapidly throughout
the globe, in many cases substituting local specics
with elements of temporary trend and fashion. e
national, ethnic and stylistic borders between expor-
ted architectural services have vanished in most parts
of the modern world. Oces, apartments, commer-
cial areas and buildings look the same in many parts
of the world slightly spiced with national decorative
elements. Still, the massive process of globalisation is
intervened by some very specic solutions that keep
their original character even aer being planted on
the most remote and dierent soils. Finnish sauna,
Turkish bath – hamam, French interior and English
parks are well distinguishable in the most remote glo-
bal environments. One of the most notable archety-
pical models of landscape architecture exported and
recognised worldwide is the tradition of a Japanese
garden. e Oriental peculiarities of Japanese gardens
that are based on the local cultural philosophy inclu-
ding traditional religion, and that are set in the most

Urbanistika ir architektūra, 2011, 35(3): 212–221 213
diverse ethnical and geographical environments of
the world are analysed in this article. e variety of
reections on local cultural identity in general, and
the architectural tools and methods of landscape cre-
ation in particular are reected in a multilayer ana-
lysis as well. Besides the goal of widening the general
understanding of planning and design principles of a
Japanese garden as a cultural phenomenon, the article
also aims to open a wider discourse on the ways of
exporting landscape archetypes and a consequently
cultural traditions from the Far East in general and
from Japan in particular to other regions of the globe.
On the other hand, Japanese garden is too big a mas-
terpiece to cover all sides of its profound completeness
in a single article. erefore, this paper that has been
tailored by the author over the period of past eight
months should be read rather as an invitation to open
a wider professional discussion on cultural exchange
traditions in landscape architecture.
Japanese garden as an oriental cultural
phenomenon: a vision and a concept
Japanese gardens have travelled a long and winding
road of evolution from a prototype of the ancient
times to the stereotype of today. Having originated
in Japan as a necessary part of Buddhist and Taoist
temples to remind of mountainous regions of China
with their rocks, lakes and forests oen in a miniature
way, Japanese gardens were rst planned and designed
in the ancient castle towns of Japan in the 6th c. AD.
e tradition of an ambient meditation space next to
a temple could be traced back in many cultures, e.g. a
garden court for physical and mental preparation for
prayer was usually planned next to Muslim mosques.
In the 9th c., Japanese gardens shied away from being
just a compulsory element of a religious place and be-
came more open for contemplation, amusement and
ceremonies of the nobles. e gardens were built in
mansions, in front of main buildings, which was usu-
ally on the South side of a land plot. Later in the 12th
c., pure-land-style Buddhist gardens were said to imi-
tate paradise on Earth. During the ourishing of Zen
school, the gardens were singing praise to emptiness
as a part of traditional Japanese ritual belief. Because
of a strong philosophical background that has been
evolving across dierent historical periods sometimes
Japanese gardens are also called Zen Gardens (Koren
2000). In the 13th c., garden techniques advanced as
well as their missions that were leading to simply en-
joying a natural garden life. Once the tea ceremony
became an intricate part of the Japanese culture in
the 16th c., a teahouse tradition was introduced to a
garden, thus making a tea pavilion into a compulsory
element of a garden. Instead of being a religious sym-
bol, a Japanese garden turned into a symbol of prestige
and power of its owners. Following the last period of
modernisation of Japan, several extensively planned
and decorated gardens owned by notable businessmen
and politicians were created and some of them are even
open to the public (Conder 2002).
Numerous cases that the author has analysed in-
dicate that Japanese gardens have begun their spread
throughout the world starting with the end of the 19th
century. e expanding and intensifying communi-
cation between remote regions of the world driven by
the rapid growth of the machined industry has evident-
ly played its part. e rst examples were intended to
represent the culture of Japan outside of the country
and were connected to international events. e famous
Japanese garden in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park
has been built specially for the World’s Fair of 1894, so
was the garden in Wroclaw, Poland built for World Expo
1913. e opening of the Japanese garden in Buenos
Aires marked the visit of then Crown Prince of Japan
Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko to Argentina’s
capital in 1967. Such country representing missions of
seeding Japanese gardens in dierent countries were
very successful in gaining an extraordinar y interest in
the public, though some gardens started deteriorating
and faced dicult times as soon as the representative
events nished. Gradually, Japanese gardens became
a stereotype of Oriental landscape tradition and – as
parks and recreational areas – were widely incorpora-
ted into the urban tissue and beyond, into suburban or
completely rural zones of the most dierent climate in
numerous sites worldwide. e article is focusing on
the basic philosophy as well as the main principles of
planning and design of Japanese gardens by examining
numerous examples. Some Japanese-style gardens of
Northern Europe are presented and analysed in more
detail, especially those located in Lithuania and in the
neighbouring countries Sweden and Poland.
The concept of a Japanese garden is to provide
its visitors with a refuge away from a noisy and busy
urban environment to a sheltered place and an am-
bient and tranquil landscape. e psycho-emotional
eects are created by invoking all human senses and
applying various design techniques and eects. e va-
riety of unique and unforgettably distinct creations as
a Japanese Park still bare some common features that
with reasonable sake of reserve still could be formu-
lated. As strange as it may sound, a typical Japanese
garden is a place for temporary psycho-emotional re-
laxation and refuge from the surrounding urban envi-
ronment. For this reason and to achieve its basic goal, it
is planned for dierent images and landscape motives

G. Stauskis. Japanese gardens outside of Japan: from the export of art to the art of export
214
to compose a completely enclosed spatial–volumetric
composition. As a site, a Japanese garden is usually
isolated: it is fenced and protected from the surroun-
ding environment of a city, suburb or neighbourhood.
is also has a symbolic meaning of entering a garden
as a completely dierent natural and spiritual world.
Japanese gardens are located on very dierent sites: on
available urban, suburban or rural land plots. In terms
of urban structure, a Japanese garden is always of a
completely dierent substance than any other surroun-
ding urban tissue, thus structurally it is more exclusive
rather than inclusive (Majorowski 2009). For this rea-
son, access to a Japanese garden is strongly regulated:
it is usually fenced and in general more private than
open to wide public use (Teien 2000). e garden is
always planned as a route scenario consisting of die-
rent views composed in a certain sequence. A strictly
planned route scenario aims at creating the most rela-
xing and meditating emotional status for a garden vi-
sitor. Functional activities of a garden correspond fully
to its meditative nature: they are quiet and ambient,
of mostly passive recreational character. Application
of complex landscaping elements is usually a way to
achieve the truly ambient atmosphere: land surface and
soil design, plant compositions, water surface design
and other elements are used for this purpose. Locally
available materials and natural vernacular land ma-
nagement, construction and nishing techniques are
usually combined with original Japanese plants, ma-
terials and cras (Teien 2001). Allegories and parallels
in applying dierent natural elements for achieving t he
most meditative mood and double-coded semantic me-
anings of dierent elements are used widely. e topic
of stone composition in a Japanese garden is very deeply
and carefully stud ied as it takes dierent allegorical and
personied meanings. As omas Merton explains, all
things are very symbolic by their very nature, and they
all ta lk of something beyond themselves (Keane 2006).
Creating an image of mountainous rocks or drawing
a parallel with a family, e.g. stones of dierent sizes,
colours and shapes are composed as a symbol of a tra-
ditional family with a mother, a father, a son, a daughter
and the grandparents. As a rule, the character of basic
structural elements of landscape as a terrain, plants
and water are well emphasised and spatially identied
in a contrasting manner: plain area is juxtaposed to
a sloped boundary or a hill ridge, waterfront line is
emphasised by a group of plants or a forest at the edge
of it, edges of a plot are dened by groups of plants and
stone compositions. All elements in a Japanese garden
are planned and designed in a certain balance in order
to facilitate a personal emotional experience and recre-
ation at the same time.
Japanese gardens in the
Baltic sea region
Several prominent examples of Japanese gardens in the
countries around the Baltic Sea are analysed to unpic
the most typical planning and design features for the
region. In some countries neighbouring Lithuania
these gardens are still absent. Japanese garden in
Wroclaw, Poland, was built for the World Expo 1913
as an Artistic Gardening entry or the exhibition of
global achievements (Japan …). e garden was de-
signed by Oriental landscape guru Makichi Arai and
was unanimously considered to be a real jewel of the
exhibition (Figs 1–2). As many Japanese-style artefacts
were leased just for the exhibition, the post-expo pe-
riod was hard on the garden and on the surrounding
park as well. Aer the period of lengthy abandonment,
it was carefully and professionally restored twice – in
1996 and aer the extensive ood of 1999.
Fig. 1. Japanese garden in Wroclaw, Poland. Entrance gate.
A.Adamski photo (<http://www.adamski.pl/foto/galeria/wro-
claw/ogrod-japonski/01.jpg> [Accessed 2011.5.1])
Fig. 2. Bridge over the pond in the Japanese garden in Wro-
claw, Poland. K. Bartosik photo (<http://psyborg.rpg.pl/gallery/
ogrodjaponski/09.jpg> [Accessed 2011.5.1]; <http://wikimapia.
org/29454/Japanese-Garden> [Accessed 2011.5.1])

Urbanistika ir architektūra, 2011, 35(3): 212–221 215
Sweden has a Japanese garden in the public park of
Brunnspark which is a recreational park in Blekinge
located in the Ronneby Commune of South Sweden.
Started in the early 18th c., aer discovering the rst
mineral water springs in the area, soon spa centres
were developed around the streams and the main pa rk
was equipped with several gardens with the Japanese
garden among the most attractive ones. Because of
its exemplary design and outstanding maintenance,
the Japanese Garden and the entire Brunnspark was
nominated as Sweden’s Best National Park in 2005.
e Japanese Garden is a part of the bigger garden
area in the park comprising a rhododendron hill gar-
den, a rose garden and a scented garden. It is planned
in the reputable area and has all traditionally applied
elements of a Japanese garden. e Japanese garden
belongs to the type called Roji – a well-maintained
“dew path” leading across the whole promenade area
to a teahouse located at its depth (Figs 3–5).
Lithuania enjoys two examples of a Japanese sty-
le parks: one located Botanical Garden of Vilnius
University and started in 1999, and the other big park
started in the rural area of Kretinga district in 2006.
e Japanese Garden at Kairėnai Botanical Garden
represents a recreation of a suburban landscape with
a strong education and cognitive missions – it is desi-
gned as a university garden that actively used for the-
oretical and practical academic activities. Situated on
the site of a historical manor and even more ancient
pre-historic settlement on the outskirts of Vilnius City,
the garden has several landscaping areas whereas the
Japanese inclusion makes one of the most attractive and
fascinating spaces. Situated and planned in the natural
valley, the Japanese garden has the pond at its heart and
is surrounded by the forest, which forms an intimate
enclosed space (Fig. 6). e garden features the most
of traditional attributes of a Japanese garden, such as
the entrance gates with a wooden fence (Fig. 7), the
waterfall stream leading to the pond, quiet paths and
rest places (Fig. 8), a teahouse and other traditionally
applied and regionally designed garden elements.
Fig. 3. The s tructural model of a Jap anese-st yle garden (<http://
www.joinexperts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/4rcc_
Japanese_Garden_model-300x222.jpg> [Accessed 2011.5.7])
Fig. 4. The entrance gate to the Brunnspark in Blekinge.
Ronneby community, Sweden (<http://www.ronneby.se/
PageUpload/8363/Japanska1.jpg> [Accessed 2011.5.7])
Fig. 5. The Roji – a “dew path” leading to a teahouse in the
Japanese garden at Brunnspark. Blekinge, Sweden (<ht tp: //
www.ronneby.se/PageUpload/8363/Japanska2.jpg>
[Accessed 2011.5.7])
Fig. 6. Plan scheme of the Japanese Garden at Kairėnai
Botanical Garden. Vilnius, Lithuania. G. Stauskis pic. 2011

G. Stauskis. Japanese gardens outside of Japan: from the export of art to the art of export
216
e Japanese garden Madzuchai in Lithuania has
a beautiful name that means e Garden of Singing
Stones (Japoniškas …). e Garden is located in the
most extraordinary place, which is rather far from
any other urban settlement or city. It seems that the
garden founder – who is a private investor – pursued
capturing the very essence of a Japanese garden where
quiet environs free from noise and chaos are extremely
valued. e garden area of 16 hectares is more than big
and makes it the largest Japanese garden in Europe
(Japoniškas…). Started in 2007, it is only partially
developed to the required shape. It clearly shows that
building of such masterpiece as a Japanese garden takes
a lifetime (Figs9, 10).
It seems that the most suitable description for the
fundamental idea of planning, constructing and using
a Japanese Garden is the art of balance of dierent ele-
ments in the garden. e goal of a successful recreationa l
activity in a natural landscape or re-arranged cultural
environment is to strengthen or stimulate personal ba-
lance – physical, psychological, mental, and spiritual–
with the help of many types of scenery. Nobody would
probably argue with a statement that in the modern
rushed world, human stability is constantly aected by
urban stress. erefore, the concept of a place and a spa-
ce which could bring this stability back and strengthen
one’s balance is greatly logical and benecial to every
individual, family, neighbourhood, community and
society as a whole. is design concept explains many
features and peculiarities of a Japanese garden that are
disclosed in the article. e principles of a quiet am-
bience manifest during dierent phases of creating a
Japanese garden. In particular they could be described
by placing an emphasis on the following elements.
Site selection for a Japanese garden is an important
issue that inuences and oen determines the plan-
ning; on the other hand, the concept of planning a
Japanese garden is so exible that any site in principal
ts for designing one. Analysis of existing parks, more
recent and the older ones, reveals that very dierent
available sites have been chosen: urban areas (Istanbul),
suburban (Vilnius) and rural (Kretinga district) plots,
plain land plots and the hilly ones, with water surfaces
and without, with existing vegetation and with no pl-
ants. e sites with more developed natural elements
contribute more to the nal result of the project with
more natural and expressive material than plain and
poor land plots.
Fi g. 7. The entrance gate surrounded by the fence from local
wood beams from the outside (top) and from the inside of
the Japanese Garden (bottom). Kairėnai Botanical Garden.
Vilnius, Lithuania. G. Stauskis pic. 2011
Fig. 8. Local stones are masterly used for composing a water-
fall (top) as well as to frame the passage (bottom). The Japa-
nese Garden, Kairėnai Botanical Garden. Vilnius, Lithuania.
G.Stauskis pic. 2011

Urbanistika ir architektūra, 2011, 35(3): 212–221 217
Relief character is a lways a strong stimulus for plan-
ning a garden: smooth and plain relief is contrasted
with hurly and hilly, absolute plain is balanced out with
dynamic and sharp peaks, round hilltops are framed
by break ing hilltops, sliding slopes are cross-combined
with terraced slopes. e strength of contrast corres-
ponds to the power of emotional eect.
Soils of a site play an important role in planning a
garden as a whole; it also gives a ground for dierent
soil-based design combinations: fertile soil for lawns
and plants switches to sandy planes and strips, leading
to rocky stone’s arrangements.
Planning a garden site, strait, long and rectangular
lines are balanced out with curvy, shorter and exible
lines, e.g. in planning and designing pedestrian walks,
pond or river waterfronts (Fig. 9).
Triadic compositions of harmonious balance of odd
numbers in selected landscape elements carries a sym-
bolic meaning of the relationship between the heaven,
the earth and a man, e.g. stone arrangements, whereas
it is believed that inanimate stones have a soul and per-
sonality, as well as a tail, a head, a back and a stomach.
Scale and size: big elements and big spaces are
combined with small-scale elements and small spaces.
Microclimate: sunny and shady areas are created and
combined, windy areas are sheltered; all such places
are identied on a land plot.
Construction and finishing materials: big and
small, sharp and smooth, round and edged, so and
hard materials are combined in the same park. Local
crasmanship is applied to produce them (Fig. 10).
Water and stone applications: a quiet pond area with
a glowing surface of water and at wet stones (Fig.11)
are usually combined with a more dynamic stream o-
wing downhill, outlined with groups of rough standing
stones (Fig. 12).
Fig . 10. Elements of a traditional Japanese garden: entrance gates, a tea-house, a pergola, a rock
garden in a courtyard (<www.japangarden.lt> [Accessed 2011.5.5])
Fig. 9. Plan of the Japanese Garden Madzuchai – The Valley of Singing Stones
(<www.japangarden.lt>)
a b
c d

G. Stauskis. Japanese gardens outside of Japan: from the export of art to the art of export
218
Spatial arrangement: big and small, long and short,
geometrically rectangular and exible spaces are cre-
ated. Mostly open and light spaces are predominant.
Colours: monochromic and polychromic views,
light and dark tones, clear and pastel, bright and dark,
cold and warm colours are combined.
System of plantings: cropped and natural, high and
low, round and strait forms, so and sharp leaves, plants
with dierent leafage, branches and trunks and their
groups are composed.
Architecture of built structures: relatively small
buildings are designed with the main idea of making
them transparent, scaled to t-in, mainly of dierent
volume and plasticity than the natural environment of
a park (Fig. 10). Evidently natural landscape elements
are dominating in a park against the built structures
(Nitschke 2007).
Complex combinations of the above-listed met-
hods in composing the landscape of a Japanese garden:
e.g. a straight element, such as a tree trunk, is contras-
ted with a exible element, such as a pedestrian path,
big stones of cold (grey, black) colour are supplemented
with smaller in-tting stones of a warm (red, brown)
colours, plain territory is suddenly combined with a
hill or a slope, natural or articially created.
Basic functional elements of a Japanese garden
Entrance gates are an essential part of a Japanese gar-
den. Having the symbolic meaning of entering into a
sacred place, it usually features a wooden-beam por-
tico (Figs 1, 4, 7, 10a) in a wood-pole fence that encloses
the entire garden space. A Japanese garden usually has
a central house or a pavilion from where the garden
is visible; on the other hand, it is in principal just a
secondary element of a garden as the priority is always
given to combinations of natural elements in a natural-
ly existing or masterly shaped landscape. Both in ex-
amples of ancient times and the present, precise stone
arrangements are another must of a Japanese garden.
Stones from a local landscape are composed precisely
arranging the pieces of dierent shapes, round and
sharp edges, varying big and small sizes and light and
dark colours, smooth and rough textures, and care-
fully selecting their mounting levels.
Water is the essential lively element of natural
beauty used in a Japanese garden. It’s real and sym-
bolic meanings is created through a form of a pond or a
stream. An island and a bridge or stepping stones lead-
ing to a natural or articially formed island in the mi-
ddle of a pond or a small lake, or taking a visitor across
a stream is an arrangement found in most Japanese
gardens(Figs 13–14). Plant arrangements of dierent
scale are usually supplemented by their miniature re-
ections in the form of bonsai compositions. Careful
Fig. 12. The Japanese Garden, Kretinga district, Lithuania.
Recreation house near the stream (top), pedestrian pathway
and the stream leading to the wide panorama (bottom).
G.Stauskis pic. 2010.
Fi g. 11. Masterly sculptured the top-hill pond with at banks
paved by smooth local stones is an inviting and eye-catching
place in the Kretinga garden (<www.japangarden.lt> [Acce-
ssed 2011 .5 .1])

Urbanistika ir architektūra, 2011, 35(3): 212–221 219
Fig. 13. Stones are composed into stepping platforms (left). Bonsai garden is a real miniature world – little
plants, tiny rocks and even live golden sh in a mini water pool (right). The Japanese Garden, Kretinga district,
Lithuania. G. Stauskis pic. 2010
Fig. 14. The top-hill pond (left). A masterly stone-sculptured wooden bridge above the stream (right). The Japanese Garden,
Kretinga district, Lithuania. G. Stauskis pic. 2010
maintenance and looking aer them is a centra l axis of
a garden’s life. In terms of details, lanterns are widely
used in the territory of a garden to mark the way and
show the main attraction points in a garden. Lanterns
in corners of a garden mark its boundaries. A teahouse
as a place for some quiet time at a traditional tea cere-
mony attended before, during and aer a garden visit
appeared in the evolution of a garden and has become
a place of attraction and a shelter (Fig. 10 b). e garden
plot is traditionally fenced with a wall or local natural
materials as stone and wood such as bamboo or the
other local types of wood.
From the export of culture
to the culture of export
Japanese gardens are the living pieces of art. Although
the art of landscape composition is based on local
and regional inuences, it spreads globally. More in-
tense trade, travel and collaboration between people
of the West and the East, especially in recent times,
have intensied cultural engagement and exchange
of Oriental cultures (Fung 1999). e globally spre-
ad tradition of building Japanese gardens is actually
an export of traditional Japanese style of landscape
architecture. e export is achieved by copying and
re-applying standard approaches of planning and
design, and running the facility as a Japanese gar-
den. It should also be noted that the Japanese culture
was favoured in Europe and the rest of the globe to a
very dierent extend because of the global conicts of
the 20th c.: WWI and WW2 (Tachibana et al. 20 04).
e complexity of the question lies in the ability of
the exported tradition of a remote oriental country
to integrate into the local cultural environment and
it’s contribution to the local character of national
landscapes and townscapes.
The question on the ethics of such export is hot
on the agenda: if required and favoured by local and
visiting users, these tranquil yet costly facilities will
continue to emerge far away from the place of their

G. Stauskis. Japanese gardens outside of Japan: from the export of art to the art of export
220
primary origin. Planted on local soils, Japanese gardens
gain some local character from used local plants and
building materials; still they sustain a major structura l
and especially emotional character of Japanese tradi-
tion-based masterpieces of landscape architecture. e
aspect, which is still on the agenda of a modern town
planner, is how ethically and eciently this cultural
export could and should be executed and implemented
in a local urban setting?
A desire to see a so-called Japanese garden of an
original Japanese style has a strong ground. It would be
more than regretf ul to see diluted models with simply a
physical collection of some pieces of an original version
as it would deteriorate both the loca l landscape culture
as well as the tradition of a Japanese garden in general.
ese few recommendations oer a framework for pro-
fessionally satisfactory and culturally inevitable export
trends while forming a substantial cultural tradition on
sharing the original style of Japanese landscape archi-
tecture with the wide world.
Planning a new Japanese garden, the primary issue
is to set the basic concept of the garden with the help
of dierent stakeholders: user communities and local
authorities, land owners and service providers, in order
to dene the main functional idea, which should be rea-
lised: should a n educationally cognitive, a recreational,
a cultural or the other type of a garden be planned?
e following step should certainly be the proper
planning and design of a garden based both on tra-
ditions of a Japanese garden and classical principles
of landscape planning and design. e blend of a lo-
cal features and original design principles is absolu-
tely inevitable, understandable and even favourable.
Introduction of local plants, soil shapes and stones
ts more the basic idea of a Japanese garden than a
simple replication of selected Japanese elements and
their drastic implantation into remote land plots of a
local landscape. In addition, the same balance of ver-
nacularly local and originally Japanese approaches is
probably the key to success of aesthetically valuable
and emotionally powerful solutions. A Japanese garden
franchise could be an option to ensure compatibility
to the basic standards and to allow adequate space for
a local avour.
e third element takes us back to the very roots
of a Japanese garden, which in its essence is a natural
living organism and a stunning piece of art in one.
e permanently living result, its avour and attracti-
veness nally depend on the way the garden is used.
In this space and place, which is globally known as a
Japanese garden, the local garden culture is shaped in
time by neighbourhood communities and visitors. As
many existing Japanese gardens are hereditary objects
of real estate architecture, it is important to extend the
topic to the issue of maintenance and renovation of
the existing historical parks. Existing Japanese gardens
have to withstand the test of time, enduring physically
and morally, i.e. continue being used for reasons they
were built despite of changing outlooks and preferences
of people (Tscumi, Wernli 2005).
Concluding remarks for the permanent
discourse
As mentioned in the introductory part of the ar-
ticle, there are so many more questions than answers
about a Japanese garden tradition seeded into local
settings outside of Japan. For the sake of continuing
and extending the outlined discussion in the future
research, the following questions are outlined as the
most essential:
– Export of a Japanese-style landscape tradition po-
ses many questions in terms of its cultural inte-
grity. Is replication of such landscape traditions as
a Japanese garden acceptable always and to every
culture despite of national, regional and ethnic lo-
cality and what eect, if any, might it have latter?
– Values of exported landscape ar tefacts are soon tur-
ned from prototypes into stereotypes of Japanese
gardening tradition as such. What are their relative
absolute cultural values and how could they be ran-
ked in comparison to local landscape traditions of
the recipient locality and the region?
– Authenticity of exported substances and mate-
rials is often ignored and sometimes is treated
doubtfully. Original materials used are substituted
by locally available examples. Does the transfer-
red substance still belong to the original Japanese
garden tradition of a donor country? What are or
might be the dangers of a simple copy-paste export
into the historically or environmentally sensitive
sites in a recipient country? Are some elements of
a Japanese garden dissolving into local landscapes,
e.g. in Lithuania, Poland, Sweden or beyond?
– Intensity and scope of that kind of cultural export
is spreading immensely. Are there more cases of
cultural export from one tradition to other areas
in Europe or worldwide and what are their simi-
larities and dierences reected in landscape ar-
chitecture?
– Connections between the donor and the recipient
of the cultural export are quite mysterious. Has a
recipient of a Japanese garden culture some eect
on the donor of that tradition? Could there be an
interactive communication in between them?

Urbanistika ir architektūra, 2011, 35(3): 212–221 221
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JAPONIJOS SODAI UŽSIENYJE:
NUO MENO EKSPORTO PRIE EKSPORTO MENO
G. Stauskis
Santrauka. Japonijos sodai – tai tūkstantmetes tradicijas tu-
rintis losoja ir religija grįstas kraštovaizdžio architektūros
kultūrinis reiškinys, kurio pavyzdžiai nuo XIX a. yra ek-
sportuojami ir įrengiami skirtinguose pasaulio regionuose.
Kraštovaizdžio architektūros požiūriu straipsnyje nagrinėjami
du Japonijos sodų aspektai: esminiai šių sodų suplanavimo ir
įrengimo principai bei speciniai bruožai, taip pat Japoni-
jos sodų meninės tradicijos eksporto ir sklaidos užsienyje
klausimai. Visame pasaulyje garsių Japonijos sodų pavyzdžių
apžvalga ir pasirinktų Baltijos jūros regiono pavyzdžių tyrimas
atskleidžia esminius šių sodų suplanavimo principus, kurie
sietini su lankytojams formuojamu psichologiniu emociniu
poveikiu. Aptariant Japonijos sodų eksporto į kitus etninius
ir geogranius regionus klausimus iškeliama jų integravimo į
skirtingą kultūrinį kontekstą problema. Straipsnis apibendri-
namas baigiamosiomis nuostatomis, kurios apibrėžia tolesnio
Japonijos sodų meno diskurso lauką nuo vartotojo poreikių
iki vientisos kraštovaizdžio sistemos eksporto galimybių,
išreiškia autoriaus siekį atverti šia tema platesnį tyrimų ir
diskusijų lauką.
Reikšminiai žodžiai: kraštovaizdžio architektūra, Japonijos
sodai, kultūrinis integravimas, teritorijų planavimas, urban-
istika, kultūrinis eksportas.
GINTARAS STAUSKIS
Doctor of Humanities in Architecture, Associate Professor of
Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, (Lithuania) conducting
academic training and research activities at the Department of
Urban Design, Pylimo g. 26/Trakų g. 1, 01332 Vilnius, Lithuania.
E-mail: Gintaras.stauskis@vgtu.lt
Involved in European Union research programs and inter-
national research projects on planning urban recreation and
landscape, mobility, public health and accessibility. Member
of Editorial Boards of scientific journals Arhitektūra un
pilsētplānošana (Riga, Latvia) and “Science – Future of Lithu-
ania” (Vilnius, Lithuania). e current research elds: land-
scape architecture and planning, “green” urban architecture
and mobility, accessibility of environment, recreation and
urban health. Research results have been presented in numer-
ous national and international publications and conferences.