Page:Japanese Gardens (Taylor).djvu/159

Rh and everything that has beauty must be used—that is, enjoyed, appreciated. The garden must be fair and pleasant, to give contentment; and, as rain and wet would on so many days prevent this, a shelter must be provided which will delight the eye and add to the sense of comfort and peace.

The open sorts, quite unwalled, have taken their seating ideas from China, and quaint blue and white porcelain barrels, perforated in a design that will help to avoid any appearance of heaviness, are placed for guests to sit on, foreign fashion, with the legs hanging down. One seldom sees them used, but they make a pretty note of colour. Two examples of them may be seen in the picture of the garden near the Miyako Hotel in Kyoto,, but in this case without a roof over them. The Chinese use them very frequently as pedestals for flower-pots with fine specimen plants in them for exhibition. Blue and white is not the only ware, however. The Japanese make them in a pale water-green, as well as in a stronger green that I am inclined to think must have come from their Celestial cousins, for it is seen everywhere in China.

Other seats are plain, low, wooden platforms, shaped like beds without upper posts. A scarlet blanket is put on top, or a straw mat, and on this the guests squat and drink