Japan has four distinct seasons, and their transition

Japan has four distinct seasons, and their transition

can be predicted to within one or two days The subtle transformations taking place during these periods of natural change are the central themes of Japanese poetry and painting and the Japanese festival calendar Thus the patterns of kimonos, the flower arrangements in the decorative alcoves of traditional houses, even the type and timing of food served in tradition-conscious Japanese restaurants all reflect the time of year. It is rare even today to receive a letter which does not open with a reference to a seasonal flower or the currently-prevailing humidity or cold

Although the Japanese garden has. over the course of the centuries, evolved through a remarkable variety of sizes and styles, it nevertheless displays a design logic which rs intimately bound up with the genius too of the Japanese landscape - in other words, with the essence of the country as it appears to the human imagination.