Land of Paradise, our forth in a series of plantings from Toshio Kawamoto’s Saikei classic. The trees are seven 5 to 7-year-old rock cotoneasters (4″ – 7″ tall) and seven somewhat shorter 3-year-old satsuki azaleas. Though you can’t really tell in the photo, the pot (Tokoname) is very large (48″ x 16″ – 122cm x 41cm).
Side view diagram.
Bird’s eye diagram. This shows what looks like two rocks are actually fifteen joined together.
An invitation
The purpose of this section is to show how to create a saikei that depicts two wild rocky mountains that are dotted with beautiful old trees. The photo taken together with the drawings, create the impression that the author is inviting you to duplicate his work.
The materials
What looks at a glance like two large rocks are actually fifteen stones joined together (see bird’s eye diagram above). The original text says: secure the rocks with peat and sphagnum moss (this must be a muck like mixture) then fill in the spaces between the rock with soil. The remaining materials are green moss and river sand.
Land of Paradise
The Land of Paradise refers to the indescribably beautiful Pure Land that is described in some Chinese and Japanese Buddhist scriptures.