Japanese lanterns

A 'Japanese Lantern' can mean either a Japanese version of an originally Chinese paper lantern, used for decoration, or a roofed stone lantern used for garden decoration and lighting. Stone lanterns were originally placed outside temples, in Buddhist temple gardens. The aim was not so much garden lighting as a symbol of love and devotion for the Buddha whose statue was inside the temple. One of the oldest Japanese lanterns of this kind is outside the temple at Byodoin. With the development of Tea Gardens and Stroll Gardens a thousand years later, Japanese lanterns came to be used for lighting garden paths and as daytime ornaments. Lanterns remain a beautiful way of lighting a garden.