In the distribution of vegetation the laws and precedents of natural production are rarely violated. Plants from the valleys or river beds, �trees and shrubs from the rocks and hills, �are always appropriately placed in corresponding situations. Implicit obedience to these natural laws assists the designer in depicting impressions of actual scenes. Thus, the idea of the river Tamagawa *(Tamagawa,�the name given to six different rivers in Japan, each noted for some special flower growing on its banks.) may be conveyed by kerria and lespedeza flowers near a shallow stream, or that of the mountain of Arashiyama **(Arashiyama,�a spot near Kioto famous for its wild cherry trees in the spring, and for its reddening maples in the autumn.) by garden hills planted with wild cherry trees and maples. This treatment of a landscape garden, not merely as an artistic medley of pretty contours and choice vegetation, but as a single composition, abounding in suggestions of natural spots and favourite fancies, is one which seems to give to the Japanese art a rank and importance unsurpassed by any other style.
