Overview

No two Japanese gardens are ever the same. Each is inimitable, yet embodies commonalities of design and aesthetic taste. Each finds the space for innovation within a tradition that benefits from a thousand years of applied knowledge in gardening and landscape architecture. Japan's Master Gardensexplores the ingenuity and range of Japanese landscaping, from the self-imposed confines of courtyard designs to the open expanses of the stroll garden. In this beautifully illustrated book, Stephen Mansfield takes readers on an exploration of the outward forms, underlying principles, complex use of metaphor and allusion, and beauty and depth that set the Japanese garden apart. Topics include:  A Sense of Nature  The Modular Garden  Landscape Gardens  Requisitioning Space  Healing Gardens 

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9780804850544

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Reviews

""Mansfield accompanies his striking photographs with a spare text that combines history, poetry, and thoughtful meditations on each space. It's a wonderful balance of insight and visual delight."" --Publishers Weekly ""Mansfield's elegant photographs artfully capture each garden's essence, from the tightly controlled symmetry of dry landscape gardens of the temple at Sekizo-ji to the serene majesty of early-seventeenth-century stroll gardens at Kumamoto. Teeming with historical, cultural, and design insights, Mansfield's treatise succinctly defines the extraordinary variety and beauty of gardens throughout Japan."" --Booklist ""While very attractive visually, this is no mere coffee table book. A wealth of knowledge and information is put across in an instructive yet highly readable fashion. The attention to detail is thoughtful, from the map inside the front cover to the font used in the titles. This book offers both intellectual and visual appeal to any reader, whether familiar with Japanese gardens or new to their aesthetic and traditions."" --Garden Design Magazine

Mansfield accompanies his striking photographs with a spare text that combines history, poetry, and thoughtful meditations on each space. It's a wonderful balance of insight and visual delight. -Publishers Weekly Mansfield's elegant photographs artfully capture each garden's essence, from the tightly controlled symmetry of dry landscape gardens of the temple at Sekizo-ji to the serene majesty of early-seventeenth-century stroll gardens at Kumamoto. Teeming with historical, cultural, and design insights, Mansfield's treatise succinctly defines the extraordinary variety and beauty of gardens throughout Japan. -Booklist While very attractive visually, this is no mere coffee table book. A wealth of knowledge and information is put across in an instructive yet highly readable fashion. The attention to detail is thoughtful, from the map inside the front cover to the font used in the titles. This book offers both intellectual and visual appeal to any reader, whether familiar with Japanese gardens or new to their aesthetic and traditions. -Garden Design Magazine Such are the magnificent artifices of the Japanese garden, these pas de deux of man and nature, that while drinking in Mansfield's beautiful images you may fall under the illusion you are viewing the painterly landscapes of Hayao Miyazaki and pinch yourself and glance at the fine print for locations and assurance the gardens are indeed real and visitable. -Burritt Sabin, author of A Historical Guide to Yokohama This book is as close as one could get to understanding the function of Japan's timeless gardens as the embodiment of the 'separate one-ness' of nature and human existence. -Hans Brinckmann, author of Showa Japan A poetic homage to the Japanese garden-not just for its artistry and grandeur, but also as the locus of our desire for balance and equanimity. -Leza Lowitz, author of Green Tea to Go: Stories from Tokyo

Mansfield accompanies his striking photographs with a spare text that combines history, poetry, and thoughtful meditations on each space. It's a wonderful balance of insight and visual delight. -Publishers Weekly Mansfield's elegant photographs artfully capture each garden's essence, from the tightly controlled symmetry of dry landscape gardens of the temple at Sekizo-ji to the serene majesty of early-seventeenth-century stroll gardens at Kumamoto. Teeming with historical, cultural, and design insights, Mansfield's treatise succinctly defines the extraordinary variety and beauty of gardens throughout Japan. -Booklist While very attractive visually, this is no mere coffee table book. A wealth of knowledge and information is put across in an instructive yet highly readable fashion. The attention to detail is thoughtful, from the map inside the front cover to the font used in the titles. This book offers both intellectual and visual appeal to any reader, whether familiar with Japanese gardens or new to their aesthetic and traditions. -Garden Design Magazine This book is as close as one could get to understanding the function of Japan's timeless gardens as the embodiment of the 'separate one-ness' of nature and human existence. -Hans Brinckmann, author of Showa Japan A poetic homage to the Japanese garden-not just for its artistry and grandeur, but also as the locus of our desire for balance and equanimity. -Leza Lowitz, author of Green Tea to Go: Stories from Tokyo Such are the magnificent artifices of the Japanese garden, these pas de deux of man and nature, that while drinking in Mansfield's beautiful images you may fall under the illusion you are viewing the painterly landscapes of Hayao Miyazaki and pinch yourself and glance at the fine print for locations and assurance the gardens are indeed real and visitable. -Burritt Sabin, author of A Historical Guide to Yokohama

Such are the magnificent artifices of the Japanese garden, these pas de deux of man and nature, that while drinking in Mansfield's beautiful images you may fall under the illusion you are viewing the painterly landscapes of Hayao Miyazaki and pinch yourself and glance at the fine print for locations and assurance the gardens are indeed real and visitable. -Burritt Sabin, author of A Historical Guide to Yokohama This book is as close as one could get to understanding the function of Japan's timeless gardens as the embodiment of the 'separate one-ness' of nature and human existence. -Hans Brinckmann, author of Showa Japan A poetic homage to the Japanese garden-not just for its artistry and grandeur, but also as the locus of our desire for balance and equanimity. -Leza Lowitz, author of Green Tea to Go: Stories from Tokyo While very attractive visually, this is no mere coffee table book. A wealth of knowledge and information is put across in an instructive yet highly readable fashion. The attention to detail is thoughtful, from the map inside the front cover to the font used in the titles. This book offers both intellectual and visual appeal to any reader, whether familiar with Japanese gardens or new to their aesthetic and traditions. -Garden Design Magazine Mansfield's elegant photographs artfully capture each garden's essence, from the tightly controlled symmetry of dry landscape gardens of the temple at Sekizo-ji to the serene majesty of early-seventeenth-century stroll gardens at Kumamoto. Teeming with historical, cultural, and design insights, Mansfield's treatise succinctly defines the extraordinary variety and beauty of gardens throughout Japan. -Booklist Mansfield accompanies his striking photographs with a spare text that combines history, poetry, and thoughtful meditations on each space. It's a wonderful balance of insight and visual delight. -Publishers Weekly

Such are the magnificent artifices of the Japanese garden, these pas de deux of man and nature, that while drinking in Mansfield's beautiful images you may fall under the illusion you are viewing the painterly landscapes of Hayao Miyazaki and pinch yourself and glance at the fine print for locations and assurance the gardens are indeed real and visitable. -Burritt Sabin, author of A Historical Guide to Yokohama A poetic homage to the Japanese garden-not just for its artistry and grandeur, but also as the locus of our desire for balance and equanimity. -Leza Lowitz, author of Green Tea to Go: Stories from Tokyo This book is as close as one could get to understanding the function of Japan's timeless gardens as the embodiment of the 'separate one-ness' of nature and human existence. -Hans Brinckmann, author of Showa Japan While very attractive visually, this is no mere coffee table book. A wealth of knowledge and information is put across in an instructive yet highly readable fashion. The attention to detail is thoughtful, from the map inside the front cover to the font used in the titles. This book offers both intellectual and visual appeal to any reader, whether familiar with Japanese gardens or new to their aesthetic and traditions. -Garden Design Magazine Mansfield's elegant photographs artfully capture each garden's essence, from the tightly controlled symmetry of dry landscape gardens of the temple at Sekizo-ji to the serene majesty of early-seventeenth-century stroll gardens at Kumamoto. Teeming with historical, cultural, and design insights, Mansfield's treatise succinctly defines the extraordinary variety and beauty of gardens throughout Japan. -Booklist Mansfield accompanies his striking photographs with a spare text that combines history, poetry, and thoughtful meditations on each space. It's a wonderful balance of insight and visual delight. -Publishers Weekly

Mansfield accompanies his striking photographs with a spare text that combines history, poetry, and thoughtful meditations on each space. It's a wonderful balance of insight and visual delight. -Publishers Weekly Mansfield's elegant photographs artfully capture each garden's essence, from the tightly controlled symmetry of dry landscape gardens of the temple at Sekizo-ji to the serene majesty of early-seventeenth-century stroll gardens at Kumamoto. Teeming with historical, cultural, and design insights, Mansfield's treatise succinctly defines the extraordinary variety and beauty of gardens throughout Japan. -Booklist While very attractive visually, this is no mere coffee table book. A wealth of knowledge and information is put across in an instructive yet highly readable fashion. The attention to detail is thoughtful, from the map inside the front cover to the font used in the titles. This book offers both intellectual and visual appeal to any reader, whether familiar with Japanese gardens or new to their aesthetic and traditions. -Garden Design Magazine

Author Information

Stephen Mansfield, an author and freelance photojournalist based in Japan, has contributed to over 60 magazines, newspapers and journals worldwide. His books include Japanese Stone Gardens: Origins, Meaning, Form and Tokyo: A Cultural and Literary History. A specialist in the field, he has visited over two hundred gardens in Japan, written extensively on the topic and designed a Japanese garden of his own.

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