This understanding was made explicit among Japanese architects, for whom it was the utmost effort to design continuity of interior and exterior space, a major topic in modernist architecture.

The ever-changing moods and appearances of landscape in full action are an independent function that becomes an agent for garden making.

[8] However, this text, which is attributed to Tachibana Toshitsuna (橘俊綱, 1028–1094 CE), a son of the Byodoin's designer Fujiwara no Yorimichi (藤原頼通, 990–1074 CE), records as one of the first principles of garden making: According to the lay of the land, and depending upon the aspect of the water landscape, you should design each part of the garden tastefully, recalling your memories of how nature presented itself for each feature.

Inaji 1998:13) Three principle tenets guiding Japanese garden organization are[citation needed], Shakkei, which attempts to capture nature alive rather than create a less spectacular version, can be taken as to allude to the first of these categories.

Thus, borrowed scenery was introduced to incorporate the foreign landscapes seen in northern Japan into the southern cities of Nara and Kyoto.