Japanese Garden Ornaments

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Japanese garden ornaments are the quickest way to give your garden a Japanese touch. A stone lantern or basin instantly makes you think of Japanese gardens. Different ornaments suit different types of Japanese garden - small or large, formal or rustic.

Japanese Garden Ornaments

Japanese garden ornaments tend to be built out of natural materials like stone and bamboo – metal is not so common. They're also intended to weather, changing colour, gathering moss. When placing your Japanese garden ornaments, think about where they would naturally be needed. For example, a stone lantern feels more natural if you place it somewhere where light would be useful, such as besides a path.

If you combine your Japanese Garden Ornaments with other Japanese elements, it will be much more effective and feel much more natural.

Stone lanterns

Probably the best known kind of Japanese garden ornament, stone lanterns come in a range of styles and sizes, from large, ornate, formal temple lanterns to cute little okidora to rustic lanterns made of natural boulders. They can be lit, but don't need to be. These days a range of stone lanterns can be easily found outside Japan.

Stone towers and pagodas

This is probably the most dramatic and formal of Japanese garden ornaments. They won't sit so well in a rustic style Japanese garden. Japanese stone towers were originally spiritual pieces, but these days are often used purely decoratively. Japanese stone towers are usually square, but sometimes hexagonal or octagonal. They always have an odd number of levels. Five levels is plenty for a small garden. Stone towers work well by ponds and streams, as the strong vertical alignment contrasts well with the horizontal alignment of the water. They also make lovely reflections in a still pond.

Stone buddhas

These do work well in a less formal setting, if they're not too big. I find it's lovely to come across a small stone buddha somewhere off the beaten track – following a winding path through trees and bushes, for example – half-hidden by grasses or bushes. You can also get bigger ones, which feel more formal.

Signposts

In a real Japanese garden, these direct the visitor. In a western Japanese-inspired garden, the chances of anyone being able to read the kanji are rare, but they still make nice ornaments. As with other Japanese garden ornaments, place them somewhere that makes sense – at a junction or a turn in the path. The more weathered and moss-covered the better. Japanese garden ornaments are always at their most lovely when it looks like they've been in place for years and years. Japanese signposts are usually a single column, read downwards, and can be made of wood or stone.

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Stone basins

Japanese stone basins come in a range of styles. Some are so simple that they will blend in well in any garden. They can be used on their own, or as part of a tsukubai.

Rain chains

Rain chains are both beautiful and practical. One of the few metal Japanese garden ornaments, they are Japan's answer to drain pipes, and much more attractive.

Bamboo spouts

Aside from larger elements like streams and ponds, bamboo spouts are the usual Japanese water feature. They are used in tsukubai, shishi odoshi, or on their own.