Murin-an Periodical
This is the information program of Murin-an Garden.
It provides information on Japanese gardens, invitations to events that help foster the garden and seasonal highlights.
The name of this periodical is Sara-Sara News.
What does “sara-sara” mean? In Japanese, this word is used to evoke a gentle rustle or murmuring sound in nature. We have adopted it from a passage in a poem by Yamagata Aritomo, Murin-an’s original owner. It reads
At the end of a water stream/That murmurs gently as it travels hidden beneath the shade of trees/I see a fish leap
We chose this publication’s title to reflect our hope that, like the ceaseless flow of the murmuring brook flowing around Murin-an, the encounters here will produce a current toward nurturing Japanese gardens for the future.
Gardener’s View
The autumn leaves have scattered and the garden that moved so dynamically in summer has, to an almost unbelievable degree, entered upon a still and quiet early winter. When work done on the pine trees in preparation for the New Year’s season nears an end, it is then that we change the bamboo fences and barriers.
The newly changed bamboo is to allow us to celebrate the New Year with our guests in a fresh state of mind. It firms up the spirit no matter when you look at it. During this season, when the trees go to sleep, we also plant new trees and add fertilizer as we imagine the scenery to come in spring.
When the weather grows warmer and the trees wake up, may they spend the year in hearty health, whether during the hot summer or the autumn leaf season. What sort of year shall next year be? In this 120-year-old garden, time ticks by quietly.
