Missouri Japanese Garden / Japanese Japanese Garden

In a recent visit to the Missouri Botanical Gardens after many years away, I found myself quite surprised by the American qualities of the Japanese Garden.

Specifically, I was surprised by how much grass was there.  It was the main thing I saw.  I visited a garden in Japan just last year and I was struck not by grass, but by the density and maintaining of the plantings.  These images are from Fukuoka.

While walking about MoBot, and reflecting upon the garden in Fukuoka, I had trouble remembering any grass there at all.  Going back and looking at my pictures, it turns out there there was indeed grass, but it a lot more subtle.  Like framing material rather than canvas.

The paths were also a lot less like concrete sidewalks, and more a part of the experience.

There was a certain cleverness to them.

Rather than being an amazing jewel in a pocket park or palace, the Japanese garden in St. Louis (supposedly the largest in the US) is just one garden in a collection of gardens.  It's interesting that the American aspects of the park, like the sidewalk and tendency for expansive lawns, bleed into the Japanese section.