Each character measures several meters tall, and together they reach nearly 11 meters in height. They read Sen-jin-gan.
But what is the meaning of the massive characters carved into the mountain?
Carving characters into rock as part of the landscape is a tradition seen in China and is extremely rare in Japanese gardens.
The second character, jin, also represents a unit of length. The phrase Senjingan literally means “a rock a thousand fathoms high,” expressing overwhelming scale and power.
The inscription was carved during the time of Shimazu Narioki, Nariakira’s father, by approximately 3,900 workers over three months. Scaffolding was built using cedar and bamboo from the surrounding mountains.
You can see Senjingan most clearly from behind the garden, near the bamboo grove. Be sure to take a moment to appreciate its scale and magnitude.