Whenever I cross my mind why Asians are particularly in favour of luxury goods, the answer seems too obvious to draw up: self-abased rituals, decadent society and atheistic faith. If you look around the surroundings, everyone is so close to nature: pots of plant, bunches of flower or greenish ferns or lichens, all of which could drive our craving for materials away.
Monty Don knew there would be some differences in gardening techniques, but reveals he didn't realise just how intense the Japanese are about their gardening. Many of the gardens are tended to with such precision that each blade of grass on a tree is trimmed to perfection. Monty believes that tending to your garden has a huge benefit to a person's mental health and is one of the last few connections that people have to the Earth.