Definatly don't leave modern technology behind, that would be a great error. It is important though that it is all invisible in the garden. To see the infrastructure on the bottem of a pond for the recirculating system is not good. Irrigation should also not be needed, but very important.

Modernizing the Japanese garden is not optional, many gardens built in Japan today are on building tops, shelves and edges. Steel, glass, concrete and various composites are a reality. And computers do a great job controlling the garden. For example a two our light program allows various parts of the garden to be highlighted throughout the evening. It just shoulden't be apparent to the viewer.

Gerald

I agree with the previous thoughts. People are becoming ever more prosperous, but this also means that it becomes more & more costly to maintain a garden. To the extent that modern technology can replace manual labour involved in keeping up a garden - or replace older & less durable materials - it has to be welcomed.

The main question, I suggest, is - when does the incorporation of modern technology significantly detract from what we want to experience in a garden?

To my mind, underground sprinkling systems for example (the sort with sprinkler heads that pop up when operation & then retract) are entirely compatible. I can imagine the shishi odoshi being replaced by a (hidden of course) electronic system that senses the intrusion of deer and makes the sort of noise that will scare them away: or a similar system that uses high-frequency sound to repel dogs that may want to foul the garden.

I wonder if electric kettles are already used in Teahouses? It would not surprise me.

Herb

Yes, Herb. Electric furo are widely replacing the charcoal ones used in tea preparation - and still expensive!

I would never install a Japanese style garden over 25 sq meters without a sprinker system in my end of the country. An injecter is nice if you have to adjust water pH. I am using a mist sytem in my garden for the mosses and selaginella ground covers. Rain water harvest is nothing new for Japanese, but I am in the process of installing a "rain chain" fed irrigation system. That should qualify as techno, so desu ne?

Otherwise, weed barrier cloth under stone and sand, treated lumber in ground contact, cemented posts, cement stabilized pathway material, and rubber liners for ponds may qualify as invisible technology, I think. But I couldn't bring myself to use electric lanterns...

Weed barriers, treated lumber, and rubber liners all sound pretty ugly to me. The traditional ways are probably superior.

harry
I agree with you.Rubber liner never replace treditional way of pond constraction. Why he have to have mist system for moss while many plants survive in his neck of world without misting system.......mike