Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Stone lanterns at Singapore Japanese Garden


Singapore Japanese Garden is located right next to the Chinese Gardens (same train station). The garden is very large which is impressive and grand. Large pond frames the most picturesque areas of the garden (see images above). However, flat relief of the garden made it hard for the designer to create points of interest. Most of all, the focal point of the entire garden is an unremarkable modern building. Several features of the garden like the red bridge, the tori gate and the red garden umbrella looked a little tacky. On the positive side, the garden has a tremendous potential. For me, the most impressive feature of the garden was its collection of stone lanterns. They are shown below.
  

I put together descriptions for the images above. They are mostly compiled from the explanation plates placed next to the lanterns in the garden. However, I have noticed inconsistencies in them, plus some plates were damaged or absent. So, I got the missing information from the Internet, hence 100% accuracy can’t be guaranteed. Anyway, here it is.

1 – Rankei Yukimi-dōrō (one-legged snow-viewing lantern)
2 – Tachi-dōrō type of lantern (pedestal lantern)
3 – Mizubotaru dōrō (‘water firefly’ lantern)
4 – Kogei-dōrō (Koggei lantern)
5 – Kanjuji-dōrō (Kanju-ji Temple lantern)
6 – Kusaya-dōrō (‘grass house’ lantern)
7 – Yukimi-dōrō (snow-viewing lantern)
8 – Ikekomi-dōrō type of lantern (buried’ lantern)
9 – Kasuga-Okazaki dōrō (a kind of Kasuga Shrine lantern)
10 – Rikyu-dōrō (Rikyu’s lantern)
11 – Kasuga-dōrō (Kasuga Shrine lantern)
12 – Tachi-dōrō type of lantern (pedestal lantern) 
13 – Eto-dōrō (Eto’s lantern)
14 – Rengeji-dōrō (Rengeji Temple lantern)
15 – Omokage Yukimi-dōrō (a kind of snow-viewing lantern)
16 – Tachi-dōrō type of lantern (pedestal lantern)
17 – Nishinoya-dōrō (Nishinoya lantern)
18 – Oribe-dōrō (Oribe’s lantern)
19 – Kodai Rengeji-dōrō (Old Rengeji lantern)
20 – Tenkachaya-dōrō (Tenkachaya Teahouse lantern)


P. S. For my blog posts on Japanese gardens in Kyoto see the following links:

Kyoto Gosho - http://lomov.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/kyoto-gosho.html

2 comments:

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Anonymous said...

Hello Kigawa,
I thank you heartily for sharing your research and knowledge, not to mention great photos of lanterns! I have referenced your page on stone lanterns several times and I just referred to it on a Facebook page called Japanese Lanterns. Since viewing Morikami Japanese Gardens in Florida a few years in a row, I've been enthralled by stone lanterns and their seemingly infinite designs and history. None here in Montana so virtual photos fill the void.
Donna Hyora, Missoula, Montana USA