The moon casts shadows onto the courtyard. My clothes soak in the scent of fragrant olives in the air. Sitting on a bench with a cup of sake in hand, I catch sunlight glittering at the bottom of the cup, and it is lovely enough to make my heart hurt.

Here we have introduced the garden through the poems of the Lord Takaaki himself.

Small poems, fit for a small garden.

What did you feel as you walked around this garden? The sound of swaying trees, water ripples, and the movement of pond skaters gliding against the water... Did you pay attention to these small, yet beautiful things? Most of them are things you could discover in your daily life. When you are too busy, you will pass these things by without ever noticing them. But really, these are things we should be able to see in our everyday lives.

The act of “Seeing” things is really just the act of “focusing” on them. You can consistently focus on something, or you can just vaguely glance at something. By viewing things from various focal points, you’ll come to understand the distance between yourself and the object. By looking at the things around you, you’ll also begin to break down the boundaries that exist between you and those objects.

Takaaki Kyogoku was the kind of person that was particularly talented in the art of looking at things, and thus was able to discover the beauty in everyday life.

A garden is a place for you to take some time to focus on one thing. It is a place for you to admire each thing and focus all of your attention on it. There is a reason you’ll find no extravagant objects within the garden. It is to give you the chance to notice and admire the subtle sounds and scents that exist all around you. You could say this garden has been passed down as a place for us to view our own lives, and enhance our sensitivity to all things in creation that surround us.

The beauty of our everyday lives stands out in this extraordinary space. In a sense, taking in the beauty of everyday life is, in itself, an extraordinary act.

The same is true for traveling. The things that you discover while traveling also help to inform your everyday life. For example, while traveling, you will set aside time to watch the sunset, even though sunsets themselves are an everyday occurrence. Those who discover the beauty of their day to day lives can transform this experience into something extraordinary, which, in turn, will influence their everyday life.

Will your garden discoveries affect your journey as well? Will you bring these discoveries into your everyday life?

This is the question that this ethereal forest poses to us.

"Some people see traveling as the simple action of traveling across a distance. There are also some people who are drawn to traveling because they can experience the exoticness of new places. Some travelers do it because they look forward to the connections and experiences that await them.

On the other hand, there are some people who don’t just take their travels at surface level, but rather they integrate them back into their day to day lives. This can also be said for the journey of life. The best way to experience life’s journey is to take what you have learned today and implement it tomorrow, and to open yourself up to the possibilities of life."

-From “Choyaku - Super Translation Nietzsche”（Discover 21)