A landscape garden in Japan is more than a simple representation of natural views, it is at the same time, a poetical conception. As tersely put by another writer, it expresses "a mood of nature and also a mood of man." It is intended to have a character distinct from that of rough or delicate execution�though one to which the degree of elaboration partly contributes. According to this theory, a garden should be designed to suggest a suitable idea and arouse definite pleasurable associations. In some cases, a rural scene of historic interest may be presented to the fancy; in others, a purely abstract sentiment may be expressed.
