A touch of exotic beauty can be created by a stone pagoda, revealing itself from among the trees near the parting of the rustic path behind the waterfall, or on the hillside beyond the pond. These are generally in three, five, or thirteen stories or layers. They were originally connected with Buddhism, but gradually found their way into our garden. Some of them were brought from Korea as trophies in Hideyoshi's expedition. Stones with Buddhist images in low relief are often brought into the garden from sacred precincts, or from the roadside where they were in habit of receiving reverential bows of the passers-by. Stone tablets of all shapes, as well as stone ornaments in the shape of lanterns, with carvings generally of Buddhist figures, are also found as a variety of garden ornament.
In spacious gardens are sometimes reproduced old shrines or temples. Three or five storied big pagodas of wood are also found in some large gardens. Placed on heights, they give a character to the surroundings, aiding a peaceful meditation on things of a higher plane to which they solemnly point.
