Japanese gardens depict the mountains, rivers and ponds of the natural landscape, allowing viewers to admire the beauty of nature in miniature through the careful arrangement of plants, rocks and water.

Until the Heian Period (794-1192), this kind of aesthetic landscaping was a luxury reserved for the nobility; however, this changed in the Muromachi Period (1338-1573) as the samurai came to dominate Japan. Influenced by Zen teachings, this class began to create simpler, more elegant karesansui, or dry landscape gardens.

Ryoanji temple in Kyoto was originally built in the late sixteenth century by a high-ranking samurai, and the temple’s rock garden is one of Japan’s leading examples of karesansui style.

Measuring some twenty-five meters from east to west and ten meters north to south, the garden is surrounded on three sides by low earthen walls and contains no plants, only white sand raked over the ground, punctuated by fifteen naturally formed rocks.

Ryoanji’s rock garden evokes a different mood in every season, but is particularly lovely in winter, when the sand is blanketed with snow. The character of the garden encourages viewers to make their own associations: at first glance, the composition seems simple, but the rough, mossy rocks and the flowing lines etched in the white sand together create an austere charm. Today, Ryoanji attracts some 730,000 visitors annually.