The role of Shigemori Mirei in the development of the dry temple stone garden in Japan

The art of the dry stone garden, which today has become an essential part of temple inside spaces, is at the stage of its new prime. The interest towards it is so great, that researchers refer to it as the “Renaissance of garden art in Japan”. Speaking about new tendencies in art of “dry temple gardens” and about the problem of necessity of its revival, one can’t forget the art of Shigemori Mirei, who put new ways of this art’s development. He created a New Age in the history of “dry temple gardens”. Based on a deep knowledge of Japanese tradition but free from formalities, he pursued his own aesthetic and spiritual ideal to create outstanding, avant-garde works throughout Japan. No one in the twentieth century proposed adaptations to the Japanese garden that were more radical. He introduced new materials like concrete and used them in completely new ways. He formed winding lines that depicted waves or clouds. He also brought in color that he mixes into the concrete or would produce different colors of gravel for the garden’s surfaces. It is both these new shapes and their color that make Shigemori’s gardens modern. Being a garden maker with a painter’s eyes, Shigemori loved the abstractness of stone gardens and realized what enormous potential this garden type had for the future of Japanese garden culture. It seems that the traditional name of dry gardens karesansui (“dry mountains-waters, i.e. “dry landscape”) doesn’t fully fit for Mirei’s gardens; for their topics are much wider than just nature motifs. Mirei’s gardens have a clearly defined subject; they are telling a story. They are always innovative and original. Shigemori Mirei was the first artist in Japan who proved that stone compositions might be considered as the language by which one can convey the deepest religious and philosophical ideas; they have the power to communicate the most profound spiritual truths. Shigemori Mirei built more than 240 gardens in the course of his life. His works were based on a thorough understanding of the classic and the modern, the East and the West, and the past and the present. One of the most representative works of Mirei are the gardens at Tofuku-ji’s main hall which are now considered the epitome of the contemporary Japanese garden. The author of the article analyses the most representative creative works of the master and shows that Mirei’s stone garden is the richest variety of symbolically and philosophically filled topics. It is a demonstration of this art’s great potential in the ways of its manifestation. Along with architecture, painting, and sculptures it probably has the equal status with them, serving as a convincing means fundamental religious-philosophical principles.