Montréal Japanese Garden. Photo : Michel Lambert

Water like a mirror, vast as infinite thought itself. Water that glistens with the rising sun, blushes at sunset and fades into the night... only to glimmer again under the moon, the white disk that balances the circle of the sun. Water, essential to life.

The shape of a pond in a Japanese garden is always asymmetrical.

For greater symbolism, it is sometimes in the shape of a letter from the Sanskrit alphabet, an animal or a heart.

	Hanbe garden, Hiroshima. A stone lantern links the land and water. Photo : Claude Gagné

Ponds are often alive with brightly coloured carp, veritable living flowers.

They cannot be very deep, for Shinto belief has it that deep water allows the fish to grow too large and metamorphose into harmful divinities.

Open Windows on Japanese Gardens 1. Opening a window onto a universe 2. A very famous Zen garden 3. Step by step on stepping stones 4. Endless maintenance 5. Key to the project: the choice of stone 6. The birth of a "Japanese" garden in Montréal 7. Wanted: Hardy species 8. The three religions of Japan 9. Three gardens, three relationships between man and Nature 10. Shakkei or borrowed scenery 11. Living symbols 12. 3, 5, 7 13. Of appearance and essence 14. Precious, colourful carp 15. Mineral strength 16. Changing scale 17. The spirit of stone 18. Islands of the Immortals 19. Plants and time 20. Discreet but essential ground covers 21. Shrubs and the art of plant sculpture 22. Trees, venerable above all 23. Water, a moving mirror of life 24. A pond and its fish 25. Islands and bridges 26.Flowing, shimmering water 27. Listen to your Heart 28. Some important dates

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