A Traditional Japanese Garden
I went to Gokuraku-en, a Japanese garden located in Tendo City, Yamagata in Japan.
Like many Japanese gardens, Gokuraku-en consists of ponds, artificial hills and countless rocks and trees. The garden was made in the early Showa period, in the 1930s, when Japan was in the great depression and many people lost their jobs. A rich local business person made this garden to help poor people by hiring them. Gokuraku-en is the garden of philanthropy.
This garden is not as large as other famous gardens in Japan such as Kenroku-en Garden or Hama-Rikyu Imperial Gift Garden, but Gokuraku-en impressed me because it has two unique features that are not found in most other Japanese gardens.
The first feature is that proverbs by famous historical people such as Emperor Meiji, Date Masamune, and Kaibara Ekiken can be found carved on stones of the garden. For instance, the proverbs, “The seed of bankruptcy is sown during your heyday” or “Good luck needs prudence, bad luck needs patience”. These sayings can be useful even today.
The other interesting feature is the stone lanterns which are varied in their shape and size as compared to conventional ones. This garden has many stone lanterns, each has a different and unique shape.
It was early May when I visited Gokuraku-en at which time the garden was full of fresh leaves. A lady showed me the garden, and I asked her when the best season to see this garden was. She thought a little and said “Each season is good, but I am impressed by the new leaves this time of year. I feel the energy of the trees.”
Stones and trees make harmony in Gokuraku-en.
