The White Path Crossing two rivers: a contemporary Japanese garden represents the past

Abstract

Abstract When Westerners think of Japanese gardens, several images may come to mind. One image might be of attractive paths through which visitors stroll on stepping stones, passing a stone lantern or a stone water basin, and arriving at a pavilion overlooking a pond.1 Another might be of a stretch of gravel punctuated by rocks, perhaps with some greenery. Vaguely, we might call such gravel spaces ‘meditation gardens,’ imagining devotees seated on the verandas of temples contemplating these rock and gravel constructions through which they are invited to stroll only in their minds.2 Recently, the American Express Company drew on this second stereotype for an advertisement featuring a monk contemplating the famous garden at the Zen Buddhist temple of Ryoanji in Kyoto (figure r).3