Today, a square pond seems to be broadly regarded as an unimportant design element in Chinese garden history. However, there are a large number of literary works, which describe a square pond. Judging from citation frequency, it can be said that one of the most influential examples is the pond, which is depicted in the poem "Guan shu you gan 觀書有感 (Thoughts While Reading) " written by Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130-1200), who is one of the most outstanding Confucian scholars in the history of China. The characteristics of his pond are: 1) it is small and square, which means it is austere; 2) water constantly pours into it from a stream; 3) it is like a mirror, which reflects the sky; and 4) it reflects especially the change of the look of the sky in the daytime. Many texts and poems indicate that this type of pond was popular, although not being favored by scholars like Wen Zhenheng 文震亨 (1585-1645), who clearly expressed his dislike in his famous book "Zhangwuzhi 長物志 (Treatise on Superfluous Things)". There are also many writings, which mention beautiful lotus flowers in a square pond. Other works show appreciation of beauty of a square pond on the ground as opposed to the full moon in the sky. These writings suggest the necessity to reconsider the value of a square pond as a design element of the Chinese garden. Since almost no detailed research has been conducted on a square pond in Japanese garden history, it might be also needed to examine the Japanese understanding on such a pond as a design element of the Japanese Garden.

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The rock garden of the Ryoanji temple is a representative rock garden of Japan, of which the time of origin and the design concept have been a mystery without established consensus.
The author expressed its view in No. 22 of the journal of The Academic Society of Japanese Garden (2011) that the design concept of the rock garden of the Ryoanji temple was the representation of Mt Wutai in China.
This paper along the line of the previous paper reviews the past research and literature with regard to various explanations about the garden-making concept as comprehensively as possible and examines the most convincing theories. As a result, it has been shown that there has been no conventional theory that refers to the relation with Mt Wutai in the explanation of the design concept of the Ryoanji rock garden and that none of the conventional theories can explain the garden-design concept of the Ryoanji rock garden more clearly than Mt Wutai theory.

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The Kaiu-so garden is located in the former Nanzen-ji Temple precinct and was built on the Edo period’s former site of Nanzen-ji sub-temples. In1905(Meiji Period), it was owned by Mr. Katsutaro Inabata and was known as “Waraku-an”.
In this paper, through collecting sources and analyzing materials, the historical transition of Kaiu-so will be arranged in order and divided into five periods. The first period as the “Creation” period by Mr. Katsutaro Inabata, the second period as the “Establishment” period, the third period as the “Stable” period by Mr. Kurakichi Omiya, the fourth period as the “Transformation” period when the land was reallocated, and finally, the fifth period as the “Reproduction” period as of today. Kaiu-so garden characteristics of each period will be clarified.
In the second period of May of 1920, when “Warakuen-ki” was published, the garden had reached to the high-level completion and it was well appreciated. This period will be particularly positioned as “Golden” period. As “Warakuen-ki” records its scenery which had become framework of Kaiu-so garden today, “Warakuen-ki” will be analyzed in detail and draw up restored map to conduct the restoration study of Golden period. As the result, characteristics and differences between Waraku-en in the Golden period and Kaiu-so in the present day have become clear.
Upon restoration of Kaiu-so garden, it is essential to determine what to convey to the next generation while having a clear picture of intimate beauty established in the Golden period. It is also important to pursue beauty appropriate to the present day and continue to preserve Kaiu-so garden.

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In the middle of the Meiji Era, Aritomo Yamagata built the Murin-an garden and Hisaya Iwasaki constructed a western-style house with a garden in Kayacho. Some garden history researchers in Japan are of the opinion that those gardens were influenced by English landscape gardens. In reviewing the gardens of Rousham, Stourhead and Blenheim Palace, which are typical English landscape gardens set in three different periods in the development of landscape gardens, however, there seems to be no substantial similarities between the Meiji gardens and the English landscape gardens to support that view. Firstly, the designs of the gardens adjacent to the main buildings are different. Secondly, the designs and the usage of garden ornaments in the Meiji gardens are not comparable to those in the English landscape gardens. Thirdly, the footpath designs in the Meiji gardens were most likely part of the development of the Japanese traditional garden design, rather than copies of English landscape gardens. Lastly, it should be mentioned that influential Japanese politicians and businessmen such as Yamagata and Iwasaki travelled to England only after 1869. It was then the Victorian period, during which the garden design was more decorative than the landscape gardens which were most popular between 1730 and 1780. It would not be natural to think that Yamagata and Iwasaki would have focused on the landscape gardens and brought them to Japan, even though these gardens were not the most popular style at the time of their visit.

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