I design and build gardens in the karesansui tradition, mostly for temples,
inns, and private courtyards across the Kansai region. Over 19 years I have
finished 47 gardens, the smallest a 4 square meter entry court, the largest
a 1,300 square meter temple grounds. I still spend the first day of any
project sitting in the empty site, doing nothing, which clients find either
wise or slightly worrying.
Practice
Principal & Founder
Mosby Teien Atelier · Kyoto
- Run a small studio of 4 craftspeople, completing 3 to 5 gardens a year on a deliberately slow schedule.
- Designed and led the moss and stone courtyard at Reikō-an inn, sourcing 22 tons of Kurama stone by hand selection over 3 site visits.
- Kept every project within a 40 km radius of the workshop so that maintenance visits stay a single day trip.
Senior Garden Craftsman
Aomatsu Zōen Company · Kyoto
- Executed 28 residential and temple gardens under head designer Toru Mishima, from setting stones to raking sand patterns.
- Rebuilt a 1930s dry landscape at Jukō-in after storm damage, resetting 14 principal stones to their recorded original angles.
- Trained 6 junior apprentices in stone-setting and sand-raking rhythm over 5 years.
Apprentice Gardener
Under master Ichirō Setoguchi · Nara
- Learned pruning, moss cultivation, and bamboo fence weaving across a 4 year live-in apprenticeship.
- Raked the practice court every morning at 6, roughly 1,400 times, before being allowed to touch a stone.
Craft & Study
Techniques
Karesansui dry landscape · stone selection and setting · sand raking (samon) patterns · moss ground cultivation · shakkei borrowed scenery composition
Materials
Kurama and Shirakawa stone · Ōya tuff · black pine and Japanese maple · bamboo fencing (ryōanji-gaki) · white granite gravel
Tools of note
Hand-forged sand rake, 5 tooth · rope and level for stone angling · long-handled pruning shears kept 21 years
Certified Landscape Gardener, Grade 1
National Trade Skills Board · 2012
Passed the practical stone-setting examination on first sitting.
Diploma, Traditional Garden Arts
Kansai College of Landscape · 2005
Two year program in design history and hand technique.
Recognition
Kyoto Garden Guild · 2021
Regional award for the Reikō-an courtyard, chosen from 34 entries.
A garden is finished when nothing more can be taken away.