These trends include the appreciation of Bamboo, Rock, Water, Moss, Koi, and Aesthetically pruned trees. The Japanese are good at gardening. Their gardening tradition has been under development for more than 1000 years, and it is far more developed and refined than most Westerners could ever imagine. There is much we can learn from it. Japanese gardens are not merely a specific category within the broader category of horticulture.
Japanese gardens are the broader category.
In Japan, gardening is an extremely diverse topic that includes aspects of Art, Architecture, Science, Engineering, History, Horticulture, and Philosophy. The main purpose of a Japanese garden is to bring serenity and nature into our crowded lives. They remind us of the natural landscape, but in fact they are carefully controlled by man. They are nature-inspired, but they do not grow naturally. In many ways the Western image of Japanese gardening is inaccurate.