Holland Park

And particularly the Kyoto Garden inside. Constructed as part of the Japan Festival 1991 on the occasion of the centenary of the Japan Society in Britain.

It's a very quiet place, set inside the more wooded part of the park. Designed as a "tour garden" (typical traditional garden style in Japan) because it symbolises and emphasises on natural elements.

Ocean, forests, steep mountains, gorges: recreation of the grandeur of Nature.

The stone path guides us through.

Tsukubai (stone washbasin)

 

I can't remember the exact name and signification of this Japanese practice to tie keys and messages to the trees. Can anyone light my toro?

Toro (stone lantern)

 Shishi-odoshi (bamboo alarm for animals, and in our case it is more specifically a sōzu): When the right part (it's hollow bamboo) is filled up almost to the brim by the water trickling from the left part, it rotates forward and empties itself of all the water - but in the process it bangs sharply against the stones, therefore scaring any animal in the vicinity. Hence the name shishi-odoshi, which literally means "scare the deer".