When recently discussing the subject of Japanese gardens and our efforts in this direction, a friend disparagingly dismissed them as "tedious....a lot of stones". Strangely, whilst I am entirely skeptical on anything’s ability, especially inanimate things such as gardens, to possess the power to exert "spiritual" influences, I believe that certain "feelings" can, of course, be evoked by a particular environment. I’m quite sure that the Japanese understood this point long ago (perhaps well before Westerners), and, evidently, well before my friend. In fact, the Japanese national anthem in one of its verses recognizes how gardens and particularly moss, can be a symbol of longevity: “Thousands of years of happy reign be thine; Rule on, my lord, until what are pebbles now By ages united to mighty rocks shall grow Whose venerable sides the moss doth line”.