Sesshu, a Zen priest from medieval Muromachi Period was the most prominent Japanese master of ink and wash painting who left about 50 authentic painting including 6 National Treasures of Japan. But his achievement was not only in painting but created Zen Japanese gardens with an innovative ingenuity towards the method of “Karesansui” leading to high-minded and graceful gardens. However, these gardens do not have any written historical evidence of Sesshu being the creator, but only some oral tradition and the gardens that has practical authenticity would be less than ten.

Even though these gardens lack historical evidence, and time may have changed the form of it, the most important thing for me was that these gardens where “Live”, rather than “Real”, so that I can enjoy the breath of trees, observe and feel the Space that Sesshu had created.

It is said that Sesshu Gardens are difficult as his paintings are. It`s tremendous boundlessness that makes us hard to comprehend. It may be because we do not share the same spatial recognition as the people from Muromachi period, but I feel that Sesshu Gardens are puzzling because it inquires us our “Orientation”, where did you come from, what are you, and where are you going from here?

The power of Sesshu Gardens which drags us into its garden-space is so strong that it is in a way frightening. This power is generated from the vectors of visual lines that spread transparently in the garden. If I were able to follow that power and directions by my camera, how would the photographs become? By giving up the idea of one perspective but to be multi-perspective, my thoughts had become compound and thus I was able to see the visions of Sesshu Gardens.

JUNICHI WAJDA

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