Marc Peter Keane's personal journey through 100 Japanese gardens, looking at them with a designer's eye.

This book offers detailed step-by-step advice on how to design and construct Japanese gardens in various environments, using only materials widely available in the West.

This book, filled with gorgeous photographs, explains the theory, history, and intricacies of Japanese gardening. The creation of a Japanese garden combines respect for nature with adherence to simple principles of aesthetics and structure. In Japanese Garden Design, landscape architect Marc Peter Keane presents the history and development of the classical metaphors that underlie all Japanese gardens. Keane describes the influences of Confucian, Shinto and Buddhist principles that have linked poetry and philosophy to the tangible metaphor of the garden in Japanese culture. Creative inspiration is found in the prehistoric origin of Japanese concepts of nature; the gardens of Heian aristocrats; the world-renowned Zen garden, or rock garden; the tea garden; courtyard garden; and stroll garden. Detailed explanations of basic design concepts identify and interpret the symbolism of various garden forms and demonstrate these principles in use today in Japanese landscape architecture. Topics include: Design Principles Design Techniques Design Elements Godspirit in Nature Poetry in Paradise The Art of Emptiness Spiritual Passage Private Niches A Collector's Park

Discover how to recreate Japanese garden design and detail in either urban or country settings, with practical advice and stunning color photography.

This is a personal introduction to over 100 gardens throughout Japan, with notes on history, access and a glossary of terms. It is a general introduction to garden culture, from its historical background to its spiritual and design bases, and so offers an entry to further appreciation while also acting as an introduction to wider Japanese culture. A large number and variety of gardens are covered in this book, with a broad geographical range stretching throughout the whole of Japan. Hundreds of photographs show the gardens as they appear to ordinary travellers.

An in-depth exploration spanning 800 years of the art, essence, and enduring impact of the Japanese garden. The most comprehensive exploration of the art of the Japanese garden published to date, this book covers more than eight centuries of the history of this important genre. Author and garden designer Sophie Walker brings fresh insight to this subject, exploring the Japanese garden in detail through a series of essays and with 100 featured gardens, ranging from ancient Shinto shrines to imperial gardens and contemporary Zen designs. Leading artists, architects, and other cultural practitioners offer personal perspectives in newly commissioned essays.

Impeccably written, erudite . . . likely to remain the standard work on the subject.--Kyoto Journal