About NIWA 

NIWA was established by Shinobu Sawada, the editor-in-chief of the leading Japanese garden magazines in Japan “Niwa”, and the art/design agent Tadafumi Aoza.

We are closely working with Japanese garden masters and landscape designers, and create unique, authentic Japanese gardens around the world.

The Japanese garden has a history of over one thousand years – It has developed from being a Buddhism garden (Jodo-Teien)  to a Stone and Sand garden (Kare-san-sui-Teien)  to a tea garden (Chatei) to a Feudal Lord garden (Daimyo-Teien). The Japanese garden is still today widely appreciated.

Japanese garden masters typically analyze the local context and make use of the materials that are locally available.  They create Japanese gardens using techniques inherited through generations of masters. A Japanese garden is not just a masterful work but also a piece of art created in meeting between human-being and nature.

In Japanese gardens, “Mitate” is important. “Mitate” means metaphor. For example, there are so many different ways of combining rocks. The way rocks are put together is carefully arranged by a garden master so that it can look exactly like a series of mountains as he had imagined. “Mitate” or metaphor is something that distinguishes Japanese gardens from others. Japanese gardens are always miniatures of nature while typical western gardens display the power of human beings against nature.

You can contemplate and examine yourself by using your five senses  with “Mitate“. While walking around the garden, or just by observing the garden from your home, you are given a moment to contemplate your life and commune with yourself.

Considering the historical background of the Japanese garden and its symbolic significance, it is not difficult to understand why there are so many people around the world who care for Japanese gardens.  The Japanese garden is well-recognized internationally. For example, one of the most popular tourist activities in Kyoto is to pay a visit to a traditional Japanese garden. Many people wish to build their own Japanese garden. Some of the most successful people in business such as Bill Gates of Microsoft and Larry Elison of Oracle have built Japanese gardens at their own private homes.

However, it is not very easy to find a team of professionals creating Japanese gardens especially if you are living outside Japan. Furthermore, the communication and the management of the entire project can be complicated due to the language barriers and cultural differences. This is why Niwa can help you.

We are a team of experienced professionals from Japan, and we will help you through the entire process of building the Japanese garden. Contact us and we will tell you more.