Overview

In their rocks and plants, empty spaces and intimate detailsKyoto's gardens manifest a unique ability to provoke thought and delight in equal measure. These carried landscapes meld the sensuality of nature with the disciplines of cosmology, poetry and meditation. Japanese aristocrats created these gardens to display not just wealth and power, but cultural sensitivity and an appreciation for transcendent beauty. A class of professional gardeners eventually emerged, transforming Japanese landscape design into formalized art. Today, Kyoto's gardens display an enormous range of forms-from rock gardens of extreme minimalism and subtle hues, to stroll gardens of luscious proportions and vibrant colours.

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9784805313213

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Reviews

-Bring the art and beauty of Japan to your garden with inspiration from Kyoto Gardens, written by Judith Clancy and photographed by Ben Simmons.- --HGTV Gardens

...a most excellent book: a lively, interesting and informative text illustrated with Ben Simmons's brilliant photography. [A] book very much worth adding to one's library. --Shakkei, Japanese Garden Society UK Clancy, living in Kyoto, provides historical, aesthetic and cultural context to the gardens, and Simmons' photographs present a fresh look at Kyoto's most important gardens. --Publishers Weekly An exquisite appreciation of Kyoto as a spiritual place with its gardens of such beauty, variety and devotion. --Spirituality & Practice blog Kyoto Gardens: Masterworks of the Japanese Gardener's Art provides a lively survey of Kyoto's gardens and landscapes and comes from a master photographer and a Kyoto-based writer who capture the beauty of the city's major gardens. --Midwest Book Review Here is an instance in which one can certainly judge a book by its cover. The cover of Kyoto Gardens: Masterworks of the Japanese Gardener's Art contains eight vignetted color photographs that sumptuously display the rich combination of organic and man-made features that populate the serenely elegant gardens of Kyoto, Japan. One is immediately drawn to the breathtaking scenes displayed within, accompanied by text that is both descriptive and evocative, yet unobtrusive. -Examiner.com 'Kyoto Gardens' is the sort of travel book that will make you miss Japan, whether you've been there or not. --About.com Bring the art and beauty of Japan to your garden with inspiration from Kyoto Gardens, written by Judith Clancy and photographed by Ben Simmons. --HGTV Gardens A beautiful book that will appeal to gardeners, armchair travelers, or readers interested in Japanese history and culture. --Library Journal

'Kyoto Gardens' is the sort of travel book that will make you miss Japan, whether you've been there or not. [...] In addition to using it to plan your trip to Kyoto, you can keep it on your shelf and pull it out to reflect on past visits to the old capital. Or, you can just flip through the glossy photos of picturesque gardens and intriguing stories about their histories and daydream about Japan. [...] The 144-page hardcover begins by briefly giving us perspective on the archipelago's place in the world and in history before introducing us to Kyoto's stunning and serene gardens. While educating us on the landscapes and their significance, Clancy, though formal, refrains from sounding too academic or stiff, and instead writes with color and rhythm. [...] It's this kind of prose that keeps us reading, only stopping to look at Simmons' images of stone paths; foliage of golds, greens and fiery oranges; soft, stone-splashing waterfalls; and close-ups of Buddha statues, ceramic tiles, roots feeding in lush earth and raked gravel that forms hypnotic patterns. Despite spending lots of time in Japan over the past 15 years, I still gasped when opening the book to the front end-page photo of cherry blossoms at Heian Jingu shrine garden. The pinks -- appearing dark and vivid like those of peach blossoms -- are so stunning I find myself frequently turning back to that spread. --About.com

Clancy, living in Kyoto, provides historic, aesthetic and cultural context to the gardens, and Simmons' photographs present a fresh look at Kyoto's most important gardens. -- Publishers Weekly

.. .a most excellent book: a lively, interesting and informative text illustrated with Ben Simmons's brilliant photography. [A] book very much worth adding to one's library. -- Shakkei, Japanese Garden Society UK

Author Information

Judith Clancy has lived in Kyoto for more than 40 years, writing and teaching about Japanese culture. Her first publication, Naturescapes, was a tribute to her Ikebana teacher, Tamura Suiko, who, through the art of flower arrangement, instilled a deep and subtle appreciation of Japanese aesthetics and character. Exploring Kyoto: On Foot in the Ancient Capital went beyond the usual guidebook. Its 30 detailed walks through Kyoto reveal temples, shrines and folklore to visitors while taking them on a journey through centuries of Japan's traditional architecture and culture. Kyoto Machiya Restaurant Guide relays the culinary delights within Kyoto's renovated townhouses, and in Kyoto: City of Zen, Clancy and Simmons introduce viewers to Japan's ancient capital. Clancy lives in a 120-year-old converted weaving studio in Nishijin, the weaving and dyeing district of Kyoto. Visit her website at kyotoworkshops.com. Ben Simmons is a longtime Japan resident whose photos have appeared in books, magazines, and exhibitions worldwide, including the Victoria and Albert Museum and the United Nations. He holds an MFA from the University of Florida. Some of his other book projects are Tokyo Megacity and Traditional Japanese Architecture: An Exploration of Elements and Forms, both published by Tuttle.

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