Donald Richie reading "The Japanese Garden"

Donald Richie’s observations of the Japanese garden is completely correct in my opinion. But then again, I guess one shouldn’t really expect anything else coming from a man that knows more about Japan than most Japanese people. In his book “Lateral View” he claims that there is no real ‘raw’ nature in Japan, but instead Japanese creates nature to reveal it.
This could be connected to everything in Japanese culture I think. Japanese in my opinion would rather see something that is made correctly and with perfection than something that is in its original form and untouched. Some examples would be the Bonsai trees or the tea ceremonies. Also, I have never seen a ‘natural’ garden in Japan. If there is one, it is always very neat and organized.
Comparing this to my own country, Sweden; Japan and Sweden are very different. They are almost the complete opposite I would say. In Sweden everyone cherries the ‘raw’ nature and we try to preserve it. Swedish people do, in general, not like when nature is ‘made’ or ‘fixed.’ When a Swedish person wants to experience nature, they go far away from everything man made, and enjoy the untouched. An example of preserving nature would be the 450 million crowns that the government will give to replant forests that were destroyed last year in a storm called “Gudrun.”
I don’t know if its because I am Swedish, but I certainly prefer the Swedish view in this case. I do not want to see nature that was made or designed by someone, if I am looking for ‘raw’ nature that is. Because Japan has beautiful gardens but I would not call them nature. In Sweden there is also beauty in a garden that is kind of ‘wild.’ A designed and very cared of garden in Sweden is not always looked at as more beautiful than a ‘free’ one. Besides, I think that most Swedish people think that ‘raw’ nature is always more beautiful than a garden, designed or not. I don’t know if this is the case in Japan?
I also think this is a reflection of the different living situations between Sweden and Japan. Sweden actually has more space then Japan but there is 9 million people in Sweden compared to Japan’s 130 million. This huge difference makes for different thinking. Japanese people simply cannot experience nature like Swedish people can; there is not the space.