Authors

Ran Levy-Yamamori

Ran Levy-Yamamori received a B.A. in horticulture from Hebrew University and has worked as a field biologist and natural history writer. He wrote Wild Flowers of Japan and co-authored Flowers of the Eastern Mediterranean. Currently he writes on nature for various publications in Japan, Europe and his native Israel, and for several years, he wrote the popular "Flower of the Week" column, which appeared on the front page of The Japan Times’ Sunday edition.

Timber Press: How is the topic of Japanese gardening relevant to gardeners outside of the region?

Ran Levy-Yamamori: Many people admire the Japanese aesthetic approach to gardening; admire the contradiction between the simple-natural look of the garden and the perfectionism needed to achieve that simplicity and natural look. It is not necessary to create a whole Japanese garden, but adopting some of the Japanese traditional ideas such as using wild plants in the garden to create a reflection of nature, and to set a small part a "Japanese corner" invites visitors to enjoy the charm of the Japanese garden and the natural feeling which wraps it.

TP: Which specific gardens do you consider to be particularly important to the history of Japanese gardens?

RLY: Of course, all gardens are important and contribute each in its special way to the Japanese history. However, personally, I admire the small scale gardens, the Tsuboniwa, which allow many Japanese people who live in very small spaces to add an important little beautiful corner and moments to their daily life, providing them or a brief escape from their daily grayish routine.

TP: What are the present trends in Japanese gardening and what role do you expect them to play in the future?

RLY: I think that the last decade made traveling easier and faster, horticultural information more available and the mass media, which "forced" Japanese to be more exposed in modern, different and other gardening methods, the Japanese gardening is now facing challenges and threats from western gardening approaches. Like people elsewhere in the world, Japanese people are looking into more "exotic" gardening. The rising number of practical books the shelves of bookstores about English gardening is a good proof for that. It is now much easier to introduce new plants to the Japanese gardeners than ever. I think that the younger generation of gardeners are more ready to adopt new plants and use then even in the "fortresses" of the traditional gardens, and maybe gradually create a change. The same happened, although in a much faster process, in music and arts. One of the reasons for this slow process in the gardening world, might be the fact that the traditional gardening is still done by elder gardeners who "defend" their world, and because there are still many who can afford to order and maintain traditional Japanese gardens, usually not the younger people in the Japanese society.