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Contrast of Shape
Zen gardens are a place for contemplation and meditation. The garden at the Shobo-ji Temple is built up from a combination of contrasting shapes. Geometric spherical bushes, triangular roofs and rough organic rocks all float in a sea of raked white gravel.
The arrangement is natural and informal, but because of the careful pruning, trimming and raking, appears very controlled. “Though inspired by nature, it is an interpretation rather than a copy; it should appear to be natural, but it is not wild.”(1)
![By (WT-shared) ChubbyWimbus at wts wikivoyage (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4897a5_307526f204bf40daa4e6b16ebf2f97cd~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_721,h_541,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/4897a5_307526f204bf40daa4e6b16ebf2f97cd~mv2.jpg)
Shoboji Temple – Kyoto, Japan
(1) D and M. Young, The Art of the Japanese Garden, Tuttle Publishing 2011, p. 20
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