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Gardens
玄武
Genbu · “the black warrior” — guardian of the north
The Black Tortoise garden
A tortoise island in a sea of gravel, a suikinkutsu by the terrace.
Planned
What it is
Genbu is the black tortoise entwined by a snake, one of the four guardians of the compass points in East Asian cosmology. He keeps the north and answers for winter, water and long life.
The tortoise island is a classic motif of the Japanese garden: a group of stones read as a shell, a head and legs. It stands for steadiness and a very long life — exactly what a garden is built for.
How ours is made
A gravel “sea” with waves, a tortoise island of stone, an underground suikinkutsu by the terrace of the house.
The garden adjoins the first house and can be seen from its windows.
- Compass point
- North
- Motif
- The tortoise island
- Elements
- A gravel sea, a suikinkutsu
- Status
- Planned