Works
Niwa of Yamanote










The client has a keen taste for Cha-no-yu (Japanese tea ceremony).
Since the zoning plan, we took part in the project. Not only the garden matters but also did we discuss fenestration and the aspect of house with the architect and the client over and over to shape the plan.
When you pass through the downhill gate under a weeping tree, you see the black-lava approach running along the house wall. A persimmon tree stands in front of the northward entrance, and a Tsukubai (washbasin) is located at its root. A Nobe-dan (stone pavement), made of fifteen lava sheets laid on end, represents a boundary between the path and Nijiri-guchi (crouching-through entrance).
Going up not to the Nijiri-guchi but to the entrance, you see the granite Nure-en(open veranda) beyond the Ryukyu-Tatami floor. Stepping down to the southern garden, you are welcomed by the Machi-ai (waiting bench) made of Old stones. Leaf tips of Japanese Pieris in the southern garden serve as a conduit, which dribbles water down to the Tsuku-bai.
I think tradition is not to cling to old custom and formulas but to develop long established ways with client’s intervention in modern world. In this way our mentality shall be handed down to next generation.
The client spares every morning hour to step onto the garden with his pruning scissors. Every time I visit his home, the garden is kept tidy. His unconventional spirituality has stood the test of time and grew into the mental garden.