Japanese Garden of Monaco
Have you ever seen an authentic Japanese garden? Well, I had the chance of seeing the one in Monaco and was really impressed too. Wanna taste a little Japanese culture? Stepping on this ground is escaping from the real world into a fantasy land. You suddenly find yourself in a typical Japanese natural setting like the ones you see in marvelous paintings. The only thing that's missing is the fog. Instead, the Mediterranean sun reveals all minute details in a warm light.
With Japanese gardens, what you see is not all; the surface of things is the mere reflection of the psyche of an ancient culture. One really needs to be literally "cultured" in this direction to best appreciate the value of this art. (which I myself was not at the time of my visit! And it was a pity as I did not know what to look for and what to analyze better!) One can speak of a philosophy of gardening coming from the ancient Japan. Japanese gardening is an art fetched beyond the arrangements of vegetation, water and stone but is full of symbols:
* Koko - the veneration of timeless age;
* Shizen - the avoidance of the artificial;
* Yugen, or darkness - imply the mysterious or subtle;
* Miegakure - the avoidance of full expression
The perception of nature is different in the Japanese culture from that of the European one. Instead of viewing nature only as something to be subjugated and transformed according to man-made ideal of beauty, Japanese developed a close connection to nature, considering it sacred, an ally in putting food on the table and an ideal of beauty in itself. That is why the Japanese gardens are the synthesis of nature in miniature instead of correction of nature as with European gardens.
Actually, the design of Japanese gardens come from the Chinese model. The history goes back in time, around year 100BC when the emperor of China, Wu Di of the Han Dynasty established a garden that contained three small islands, mimicking the Isles of the Immortals, who were the main Taoist deities. An envoy of Japan saw it and took the idea to Japan, improving the existing Japanese practices.
The Japanese Garden of Monaco was designed at the request of Prince Rainier who thus fulfilled a desire Princess Grace had expressed during her life-time. The garden was designed by the landscape-architect Yasuo Beppu, has 7,000 square meters, its construction took 3 years and it was inaugurated in 1994.
Specific elements
* The wall (Heï) with an intermediary bamboo fencing (Takégaki) that stands for fragility and simplicity.
* The main gate (Shô-mon)
* The stone lanterns (Tôrô) - each having special different characteristics;
* The lake (Iké) with large swishing gold fish.
* The stone fountain (Fusen-Ishi)
* The covered terrace (Kyukeïjo)
* The islands (Shima) - represent two long-living animals - the tortoise and the crane, symbols of complementarity expressed
* The Tea house (Chatshitsu)- named the Garden of Grace (Ga-én)
* The dry landscape (Karésansui) - quintessence of Cosmos
* The Belvedere (Azumaya) - a house on a hill allowing view in all four corners
* The waterfall (Taki) - symbolizes the strength of Man and Nature, contrasting to the horizontality of the lake.
* The arched red bridge (Taïkobashi) - is red, the color of happiness and is narrow so as to make access to the divine island more difficult.
There are olive trees, cherry trees, conifers, azaleas, rhododendrons and camellias, a varied, rich vegetation of Mediterranean, South American, Australia, African and Asian origin, pruned according to the Japanese tradition.
Walking in the crowded Monaco, with all its stone, steel and glass, you can find in the Japanese Garden a peaceful, green oasis where even the great number of tourists pass unnoticed, wandering on the winding paths, through the thicket of the garden.
Laura Ciocan writes for http://www.ilovemontecarlo.com/ where you can find all you want to know about living in Monaco Please feel free to use this article in your Newsletter or on your website. If you use this article, please include the resource box and send a brief message to let me know where it appeared: mailto:lauracio@gmail.com
Latest News
How to Tame a Cat With a Taste for the Outdoors Washington Post, United States - He has had a taste of the outdoors and wants to go out again. We regularly have to get chairs to reach him when he jumps onto curtain rods and bookcases, ... |
Outdoors Report: Steelheaders getting in some early punches Seattle Post Intelligencer - By GREG JOHNSTON The winter steelhead season is well under way, not spectacular so far but definitely early and spread throughout the traditional streams of ... |
Outdoors briefs Dallas Morning News, TX - By RAY SASSER Outdoors Writer rsasser@dallasnews.com With the 2009 Panhandle pheasant season looming Saturday, Texas Parks and Wildlife is asking hunters ... Outdoors notebook |
Want a holiday gift for an outdoors lover? Here are some ideas Dallas Morning News, TX - They cost about $1 a packet and should be available at any good outdoor store. • Miniature flashlights that function on lithium batteries are excellent ... |
Outdoors by Wayne Baughman Pittsfield Pike Press, IL - The tally is in for the first portion of the firearms deer season that was held Nov. 21,22, and 23. Statewide hunters took 71894 deer, which is a decline of ... |
 News & Observer | GI Janes get outdoors News & Observer, NC - Deanna Lampley, MWR business manager for outdoor recreation, told the group of 29 participants the day was designed to show that the outdoors is for ... |
 Evening Sun (subscription) | Gift giving – the outdoors versus the non-outdoors Evening Sun (subscription), NY - the “gifter” is pretty much left to their own devices when perusing the outdoor departments or sporting goods stores. The true challenge is to avoid giving ... |
Outdoors With Braz: A Few Tips On How To Keep Warm While Hunting thejournal-news.net, IL - Still a lot of good ideas coming in for the 2009 Montgomery County Outdoor Expo and more people continue to contact me. Keep your eyes on the paper; ... |
A handy guide to outdoors gifts Detroit Free Press, United States - It's that time of year again, when outdoors guys and gals have to figure out how to let family and friends know what we really want without appearing too ... |
Great Outdoors Almanac Green Bay Press Gazette, WI - A few anglers are starting to fish frozen portions of rivers and harbors, but it's still slushy, open water throughout much of Green Bay. ... |
Resources
-
Andinia.com - The Web, Outdoors - Search Engine and Portal
Search engine dedicated to nature lovers, the great Outdoors and adventurous spirits: survival, extreme sports, travels, ecology, mountaineering, photography, how-to articles, courses, real experiences, gear, tips, and more; published in English, Spanish