A historical Consideration on the Changes of the Planting Design in the Japanese Tea Gardens

Abstract

The developing process of tea gardens and the changes of their plantings are historically analyzed using literatures from Sen no Rikyu to Kobori Enshu through Furuta Oribe. At the beginning of tea ceremony (wabicha), a tea ceremony was held in a shoin, and there was no special garden for the tea ceremony. The outdoor space especially for the tea ceremony (tsubo-no-uchi) appeared with the establishment of the special room for the tea ceremony at the Joo (Takeno Joo) period, and the plantings were denied in this space as a general to exclude the obstructive attractions for the tea ceremony. The tea house, or the building of special style for tea ceremony, was developed at the early stage of Rikyu period, and the change of outdoor space from the tsubo-no-uchi to the tea graden (roji) resulted from the change of the building. Then, the tea ceremonial masters' posture became positive to the plantings with the establishment of tea garden style at the mature stage of Rikyu. Furuta Oribe succeeded the Rikyu's philosophy of a tea ceremony held in a tea house, and then he developed a new style, the so-called the tea ceremony of a buke or military class. His style fundamentally pursued to receive the guests with the tea in the hospitable settings of a room and a garden, and he developed the futaeroji style tea gardens and discussed about the selection of plants in the gardens. Kobori Enshu, as the most outstanding tea ceremonial master of that period promoted the Oribe's style, and as a result he modified the tea ceremonial houses and gardens in the way of the shoin style.