Defining Gardens in/for Japan—From the Edo Era to the Mid-Meiji Period

The first chapter traces the development of the concept “Japanese garden” as a product of translational processes between the West and Japan. With the onset of a new era in Japan during the mid-19th century, gardens became less prominent as cultural and political spaces. In the Edo period, feudal lords built around 1,000 residences adorned by gardens in the shogunate’s capital, Edo, to demonstrate their power. This garden culture faded, however, when Edo transitioned into the modern capital of Tokyo. Meanwhile, the world’s fairs sparked interest in Japanese gardens in the West and contributed to a renewed appreciation in Japan. Initially, these gardens served as simple settings for the Japanese pavilions, but they quickly caught the attention of visitors and pundits. The trend spread beyond the fairs when the rich in North America and Europe commissioned gardens for their estates. At the same time, Western scholars in Japan, such as Josiah Conder, wrote about Japanese gardens, establishing a Western discourse on the subject.