In the East, landscape provides the best metaphor for an aesthetic both pure and majestic. To establish a Japanese restaurant in China, connecting both cultures with a common language is of prime importance. Interestingly, these two cultures look at landscapes in different ways. A Japanese rock garden is strict, tidy, and replete with poetry and contemplation. Meanwhile, Chinese landscape painting often consists of splashes of heavy green and blue ink unbound by distinct lines. Although both cultures portray landscapes differently, the primary concern for each is artistic mood. We have integrated the two in molding a new manner of expression, designing a space which exhibits various hues within a single-color palette. By means of conspicuous, shapely stones and rock gardens, and transparent screens bearing traditional Chinese ink paintings, a richly layered spatial relationship is established.
