Japanese Gardens - Japanese Climate and Geology

Japanese garden design - Everything you need to know about Japanese Gardens

Within Japan there are more than 40 active volcanoes. This volcanic activity has produced spectacular scenery and numerous hot springs but means that there are in frequent eruptions and violent seismic activity. Earthquakes also bring with them the risk of tsunami or tidal waves which have devastated low lying areas over the centuries.

The country is one of the most seismically active part of the world with over 10,000 earthquakes a year. One major earthquake centre is the Kanto region where Tokyo is situated. The city receives a major jolt every 60 years. As a result it has been regularly rebuilt.

The country is large with many diverse climatic zones but in general the Winters are very cold and the Summers hot and humid. The area is prone to typhoons with torrential rain and high winds. Much of the country is either mountainous or flat alluvial plains. In the mountains abnormal rainfall often results in landslides. These factors have resulted in a willingness on the part of the Japanese to accept the regular destruction of buildings.

Timber has traditionally been the preferred material for construction. Timber was even used to construct fortresses, palaces and temples. This use of timber has to be qualified by noting that traditional building tended to be top heavy and as a result collapsed more readily than would at first seem possible. The basic structural system was posts with lintels which together formed a box upon which was placed a roof.

As a result the walls could be as thin as a sheet of paper. Walls then became partitions which were removable. This approach was much appreciated in the hot Japanese Summers. The existence of dwellings without walls led to a close relationship between the buildings occupants and nature. The adjacent landscape became a visual element which could be viewed from inside and was not necessarily walked in.

Traditional Japanese buildings were constructed with raised wooded floors. The floors were covered with woven rice straw mats called tatami. Heating was usually provided by charcoal braziers. Cooking was done over fires set in pits reassessed into the floor. With all wooden buildings Japanese cities were regularly swept with fire.

In some areas the temples were demolished and rebuilt every 60 years and in some cases as little as twenty years. This approach meant that one generation could pass its skills onto the next. The oldest standing building in Japan is the Grand Shrines of Ise. It was completed in the 5th century but has been heavily rebuilt every few decades. In some areas private dwellings were rebuilt on a regular basis. In some cases the plots were divided in two so that the replacement building could be built next to its predecessor. Such regular construction activities required hard surfaces upon which to work.

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