garden. One of them, called the 'Pavilion', is derivative of a Shinto shrine's main hall. It stands above the ground on posts, and features several gabled roofs with criss-crossed extensions (chigi). Another unusual garden element is the 'Mikoshi', an ornate palanquin donated to Fort Worth by the citizens of Nagaoka, Japan. Likewise, a 'taijitu' (yin-yang symbol), a graceful Indochinese Buddha, and three stone monkeys (Mizaru, Kikazaru, and Iwazaru), are all atypical additions unique to this Fort Worth exhibit. The 'Karesansui Garden' (formerly called the 'Meditation Garden'), is patterned after Kyoto's famous 'Garden of the Abbot's Quarters', at the Ryoanji temple complex. It is a classic fifteen-stone, 'Hira niwa' (Flat Garden) composition, that has its own unique characteristics. One of them is an elevated and enclosed viewing veranda, evocative of a Japanese-style roofed bridge (rokyo). It surrounds the flat garden, allowing it to be viewed from all sides. Another is the exclusion of plant material from the exhibit's core. The fifteen boulders are surrounded by patterned gravel (samon), enclosed within a stone retainer, and surrounded by black volcanic scoria. The only plants allowed to flourish within this composition are the fruticose lichens which have colonized the boulder's surfaces. This minimalist exhibit stands as an exuisite metaphor of the famously sparse Zen aesthetic. The Fort Worth Japanese Garden's 'Moon-Viewing Deck' is a creative adaptation of the Ginkakuji temple's famous 'Kogetsudai' sand cone. Fort Worth's version is intended to be an interactive karesansui exhibit, in which visitors may ascend the flat-topped cone via steps, and view the composition from above. A 'Taijitu' (a yin-yang symbol), lies embossed in exposed-aggregate concrete at the summit. This highly unusual (but fun) addition to a Japanese garden is ultimately a cosmological symbol of Chinese origin. It also has other interpretations, including its most important contemporary association with Korean culture, and as a metaphor for oriental mysticism in American 'Pop' culture. The exhibit also features an amphitheatre that is countersunk into the same platform as the cone. Together, they serve as a performance venue for the garden's two annual festivals (matsuri), and as a moonlit chapel for weddings. Two karesansui (dry landscape) exhibits at the Fort Worth Japanese Garden are evocative of rivers that originate in mountainous terrain. One of them begins adjacent the garden's 'Pavilion', and 'flows' down a winding, boulder-lined channel, to a small lake or sea. Here, the 'water' consists entirely of ornamental gravel, and